not its decision whether or not to release Megrahi , but that of the Scottish authorities because the bomber was imprisoned in Scotland . Scotland has some control over its own affairs , including justice , but London runs British foreign policy . Some American senators , led by New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez , have been furious about Megrahi 's release . They said in a report in December that his medical condition did not justify setting him free . The leaked U.S. Embassy cable says Megrahi had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer and that the average life expectancy for someone with his condition was 18 months to two years . It noted that he could have as long as five years to live . The October 2008 American cable is broadly consistent with hundreds of documents about the case declassified by Scotland after Megrahi was released in August 2009 . Those documents and American diplomatic cables published earlier by WikiLeaks show that Libya was determined to win the release of Megrahi , warning London that it would react badly if the bomber died in jail . The British have consistently denied that commercial considerations -- such as oil
London -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- British government ministers secretly advised Libya on how to get convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi released from a life sentence in a Scottish prison , American documents published by WikiLeaks allege . A Foreign Office official explained to the Libyans how to apply for compassionate release for Megrahi after he was diagnosed with cancer , according to an October 2008 U.S. Embassy cable newly published by WikiLeaks . The British government believed Scotland would be inclined to grant the bomber compassionate release , the cable says . Megrahi , the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 , which killed 270 , was released in 2009 . He is now living in Libya . Then-Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell wrote to Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulati al-Obeidi in October 2008 to explain how to apply for compassionate release , a British official told the U.S. Embassy in London , the cable says . The Foreign Office in London and the office of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in Edinburgh did not respond immediately to CNN requests for comment . The British government has always said it was