Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has insisted that Scots justice was the "only interest" taken into account when considering the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.

"Frankly I don't believe anybody seriously believes that the Scottish government acted in anything other than the precepts of Scots justice," he told Today presenter John Humphrys.

Commenting after the WikiLeaks website published United States diplomatic documents which indicate that Libya threatened Britain with "dire repercussions" if al-Megrahi died in jail, Mr Salmond added: "This information - as opposed to what is suggested by other other people - vindicates and bears out that position."

The leaked files allege that the Scottish government got out of its depth in deciding to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds last year because he had terminal cancer.

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