§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 19 May,Official Report, column 956, what is his estimate of the timing of the ending of the criminal investigation over Lockerbie.
§ The Prime MinisterThe timing of the end of the criminal investigation would be a matter for my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate, but the investigation will naturally remain open while the arrest warrants for those accused of the bombing remain in force.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister what assessment Her Majesty's Government have made of the validity of the alleged claim made in a trial in Beirut concerning the assassination of a Jordanian diplomat by Youssef Chaabane that he blew up Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.
§ The Prime MinisterWe remain in contact with the Lebanese authorities on this matter. Our present understanding is that Chaabane mentioned the destruction of Pan Am 103 only in claiming that, in the face of 87W interrogation to which he had been subjected on other charges, he would have been willing to confess to anything, even the Lockerbie bombing.