Libya's Gaddafi celebrates 40 years in power

LONDON/ TRIPOLI (Al Arabiya, Agencies)

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi threw a massive party to celebrate his 40 years in power Tuesday as the British and Scottish governments sought to defuse an increasingly damaging row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber by publishing their files.

Tripoli's streets were decked with thousands of multicolored lights, and hundreds of Gaddafi portraits and placards paying tribute to the leader, including one saying: "May Glory Be Yours, Oh Maker of Glories."

Gaddafi with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

The leader marked his 40th anniversary of the bloodless coup that brought him to power with celebrations attended by African, Arab and Latin American leaders but largely ignored by the West.

Gaddafi's party includes a military parade, air show, fireworks and a son-et-lumiere performance with dancers depicting Libya's past and modern history.

Among those who attended the celebrations for Gaddafi, who once described himself as "leader of the Arab leaders, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of the Muslims," are Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and a number of African leaders who stayed on after an African Union summit in Tripoli Monday.

A string of European leaders who were invited, however, stayed away.

Gaddafi himself is now being welcomed in European capitals after many years of his regime being was viewed as a pariah and supporter of terrorism.

Lockerbie files

David Cameron

Meanwhile, the U.K. and Scotland were set to release the Lockerbie files to reinforce their insistence that no deal was struck with Libya over the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds last month, amid claims of a link to oil and gas deals.

David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, said people would be "disgusted" at the suggestion that commercial interests played a part in the decision to send the terminally-ill Megrahi home to Libya to die.

He condemned the release as "completely inappropriate" given the scale of Megrahi's crimes and demanded the government reveal exactly how it was made.

"Ministers must come completely clean about the extent of their discussions with both the Libyan and Scottish governments. They must do so to help to repair the damage to Britain’s reputation," he wrote in The Times newspaper.

Megrahi was the only person convicted over the bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, which killed 270 people.

His release sparked outrage from the United States, where most of the victims were from.

Leaked letters

British PM

The decision came under fresh scrutiny at the weekend after leaked letters suggested British Justice Secretary Jack Straw dropped an attempt in 2007 to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) with Libya because of "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

The Sunday Times reported that Straw made the move after discussions between Libya and BP over a massive oil exploration deal became bogged down. The deal was ratified by Libya soon afterwards.

However, Straw categorically rejected any suggestion of a link between Megrahi's release and trade deals with Libya.

He acknowledged the PTA was part of efforts to bring Libya back into the international fold after it abandoned its nuclear weapons programme, but said it was "totally untrue" that Megrahi's release was a condition for that.

In any event, he argued, Megrahi was not released under the PTA but on compassionate grounds -- something that both London and Edinburgh have repeatedly insisted was the decision of the Scottish authorities alone.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown reinforced this in an interview Tuesday, telling the Financial Times he met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the G8 meeting in Italy earlier this year and made clear it was a Scottish decision.

"We as a British government were never in a position to say other than that this was a decision that rested with the Scottish administration," he said.