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Mitt Romney to Libyan Rebels: Give US the Lockerbie bomber
The Hill ^ | 08/22/2011 | By Michael O'Brien

Posted on 08/22/2011 2:52:05 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) demanded on Monday that the new, emerging Libyan government extradite the convicted Lockerbie bomber to the United States.

Amid signs that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government is close to collapse, the Republican presidential candidate demanded that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi be sent to the U.S. "so justice can finally be done."

"It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law," Romney said in as statement. "As a first step, I call on this new government to arrest and extradite the mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi, so justice can finally be done.”

Al-Megrahi was convicted in Scotland for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, a flight from New York to London. All victims of the bombing were killed, including 189 American citizens.

Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released in mid-2009 on compassionate grounds because he was said to be suffering from terminal cancer. U.S. lawmakers were angered when al-Megrahi was greeted in Libya with a hero's welcome; he survives to this day.

The issue of extradition is particularly important to voters in the New York metro area, from which a number of the American victims of the Pan Am bombing had lived. Democrats and Republicans alike from the area have demanded that al-Megrahi be sent back to prison.

Romney is the only GOP presidential candidate to make mention of al-Megrahi in reaction to the tumult this weekend in Libya; the other candidates have been more muted. The issue is especially politically difficult for those Republicans in the race who had opposed the NATO-led intervention on behalf of anti-government insurgents that President Obama had supported earlier this year.

"The crumbling of Muammar Ghadafi’s reign, a violent, repressive dictatorship with a history of terrorism, is cause for cautious celebration," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), the only other candidate to issue a statement as of early Monday afternoon.

"The lasting impact of events in Libya will depend on ensuring rebel factions form a unified, civil government that guarantees personal freedoms, and builds a new relationship with the West where we are allies instead of adversaries," he said, making no mention of Obama in the statement.

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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: libya; lockerbie; mittromney; rebels
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To: SeekAndFind

Well, if there’s one thing a leveraged buy out guy knows it’s opportunism.


21 posted on 08/22/2011 3:55:47 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (In the long run spritzing perfume on the rotting elephant really won't make that much difference.)
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To: Izzy Dunne

Sure! Why not? There’s enough of him to share.


22 posted on 08/22/2011 4:00:30 PM PDT by RichInOC ("In the name of Allah, The Inexorable, The Irresistible...")
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To: Little Ray
But if they sent us just his head in a block of lucite

That's some seriously innovative inside-the-box thinking !

Kudos  

23 posted on 08/22/2011 4:02:07 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: SeekAndFind

I do not like Romney and I sure wouldn’t want him as my president, but he’s right on this one.

I believe that Obama hasn’t bothered to mention such a thing as he plans to kill Daffy, toss his body into the ocean and be done with it. Obama doesn’t want this in our courts because he knows that HIS WAR was not legal.


24 posted on 08/22/2011 4:05:35 PM PDT by Gator113 (Palin 2012, period.....)
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To: SeekAndFind

Oh yeah. Like Momo is going to listen to the mitten.

Forget it, Mitten boy, being a tough guy will involve mussing up your hair-doo.


25 posted on 08/22/2011 4:29:17 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth
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To: Siena Dreaming

I’m with you on that.


26 posted on 08/22/2011 4:31:20 PM PDT by sanjuanbob (Festina Lente)
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To: SeekAndFind

Rich Little does a much better John Wayne imitation.


27 posted on 08/22/2011 4:55:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Gov. Sarah Palin. What'll you do?)
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