Al Megrahi's release

Today the Scottish justice secretary announced that Al Megrahi' the man found guilty of the murders of 270 people in Lockerbie in 1988 would be released on compassionate grounds.

I have watched this develop over the last few weeks with great interest.Mr macAskill has come under great pressure during this process from those in the USA and some in the UK to keep Al Megrahi' in prison.This was a complicated legal matter but I want to mention the compassionate angle.

It seems to me that the need for compassion must be weighed with the need for justice.Justice is just as high on Gods agenda as compassion.This man was found guilty by a court and sentenced to life in prison.He is now dying from cancer and has asked for compassion to be shown.The Scottish minister has decided to show compassion based on medical advice the he has less than 3 months to live which i think is the usual grounds for this type of release.

During the announcement Mr MacAskill sought to lay blame for this mess at the door of the UK government which I thought was a cheap shot under the circumstances.He spoke of the victims families grief and he also laid on thick the christian reasoning behind his decision.Which some commentators said would be aimed at an American audience.

He also laid claim to speak on behalf of the Scottish people on this matter which I thought was a bit of a stretch.He spoke of our humanity and principles.There is no don't this was a very difficult decision and on balance one I think he got right.Compassion and mercy are the friends of God and it looks like the way of the kingdom has won the day here .This same compassion must be extended to the families left with the feeling of injustice they need to know that if there is a need for a new inquiry then it will be undertaken so that no stone is left unturned and the UK government should have gotten promises from the Libyan government before they went ahead with this .