The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Salmond accused over e-mail
First minister tried to recruit Trump’s support amid American anger
Alex Salmond has been accused of abusing his position as first minister after a leaked e-mail revealed he wanted Donald Trump to publicly back the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
The first minister sought a favour from theUS developer in an attempt to ease the international pressure on his government following the decision.
A statement was even drafted in the businessman’s name – and painted theSNPas an international peacemaker for allowing terminally ill terrorist Abdelbaset Ali al Megrahi to return home to die.
Mr Trump refused to release it, fearing he would be “run out of New York” over a man convicted of killing 270 people, including 189 Americans. Mr Trump says this was the turning point in his relationship withMr Salmond. Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “This is another murky development in a sorry saga. This attempt by one of Alex Salmond’s 13 special advisers to curry favour from Donald Trump for such a controversial decision is a bizarre example of attempted SNP spin.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill allowedMegrahi – the only person convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 – to return home on compassionate grounds. Leaked e-mails reveal one of Mr Salmond’s spin doctors – special adviser Geoff Aberdein – held talks with Trumpofficials twodays afterMegrahi’s release, amid international anger.
The pair were on good terms at the time, not long after the Scottish Government had called in and approved the businessman’s golf-resort plans.
They have since locked horns over proposals to build an offshore windfarm near Mr Trump’s recently opened course.
Labour shadow justice secretaryLewisMacdonald said: “This reveals so much about the way that the first minister’s office operates and how he thinks that, if he does favours for big businessmen, they’ll do favours for him.
“It is completely unacceptable.” A spokesman for the first minister said last night there was nothing wrong with their approach to Mr Trump.
He said: “We were perfectly entitled to hope for support from international stakeholders.
“Indeed, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, among many others around the world, supported this decision.”
He added that the incident would have no bearing on the government’s consideration of the windfarm plan, which it will rule on later this year.