DAVID CAMERON appeared to shift the blame for the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, to Scotland. The British PM was questioned about al-Megrahi’s early release while on his first visit to the White House.

Cameron said that releasing the bomber was “a decision for the Scottish executive”, and that it was they who took that decision. He said that the release was wrong and has asked the cabinet secretary to decide if any more relevant papers should be published. Those papers could include phone conversations between Jack Straw and BP.

Last year, former British Justice Secretary Jack Straw said that the bomber’s release was linked to oil and “commercial interests” between Britain and Libya.

Al-Megrahi remains the only person convicted for the bombing of a Pan Am plane over Scotland in 1988 in which 270 people in the air and on the ground were killed.

Al-Megrahi, 58, suffers from terminal prostate cancer and was released last summer after doctors said he would die within months. One of those doctors recently admitted his embarrassment that the bomber is still alive.

Cameron also touched on another sore point among Americans – the BP oil spill. He said that he believed the company would cap  the leak, clear up the spill and pay appropriate compensation.