The son of the Libyan leader says Scotland's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber has opened the way for future business between Tripoli and Edinburgh.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's release "could put Lockerbie behind us," Muammar el-Qaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, said in an interview with The Herald on Friday.

"We want to talk about business and oil and health and more productive projects. This is history."

He called for a clean slate in relations with the UK

Al-Megrahi, the 57-year-old convict who is a former Libyan intelligence officer, was sent home last week on compassionate ground given his terminal prostate cancer.

He was imprisoned in 2001 having been found guilty of the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

The Libyan leader's son said the release was decided on by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and was irrelevant to a prisoner transfer deal (PTA) between Britain and Libya.

"They are two completely different animals. The Scottish authorities rejected the PTA. It did not work at all, therefore it was meaningless," he said.

"People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time."

International pressure, meanwhile, has been bearing on Scotland.

British Premier Gordon Brown has denounced the reception al-Megrahi received in Tripoli while FBI director Robert Mueller has blasted Scotland for releasing the Lockerbie bomber.

His freedom also triggered an uproar among the families of the 189 American victims. Families of some British victims, however, said they believed he was innocent.

Saif al-Islam, for his part, praised the Scottish justice secretary as "a great man."

"He made the right decision. So many of us think, including so many of the relatives of the victims, because Mr. Megrahi is innocent. One day, history will prove this."

presstv