TRIPOLI, Lebanon — Libya kept the Lockerbie bomber out of sight Friday, apparently wary of hurting its improving ties with the West, as Britain's foreign secretary denounced the bomber's warm homecoming and warned that the world's view of Tripoli will be damaged if it trumpets his release.
The White House also strongly condemned the homecoming for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.
A crowd waving Libyan and Scottish flags threw flower petals as al-Megrahi landed Thursday night at Tripoli airport after his release from prison by Scotland. The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was on the flight escorting him home, raised al-Megrahi's hand in victory at the aircraft's door.
But even as al-Megrahi descended from the airplane, Libya scaled down plans for an elaborate welcome. Hundreds in the crowd were rushed away by authorities, the arrival was not aired live on state TV, and al-Megrahi was quickly whisked away to an unknown location.
Al-Megrahi is the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The explosion of a bomb hidden in the cargo hold killed all 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground in Britain's worst terrorist attack.
On Friday, officials had no comment on his whereabouts. Libyan television did not report on al-Megrahi, concentrating on sports and stories about the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which began in Libya on Friday.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Friday denounced the welcome al-Megrahi received as "deeply distressing," telling the BBC that how Gadhafi's government behaves in the next few days will "be very significant in the way the world views Libya's re-entry into the civilized community of nations."
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to Gadhafi before al-Megrahi's release urging Libya to "act with sensitivity."
President Barack Obama on Friday called the elaborate Libyan homecoming for the freed Lockerbie bomber "highly objectionable." On Thursday, Obama said he was in touch with Libyan authorities and told them al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, should not be "welcomed in some way but instead should be under house arrest."
In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs saidthe footage of the crowd greeting al-Megrahi was "tremendously offensive to the survivors that, as I said, lost a loved one in 1988."
"I think the images that we saw in Libya yesterday were outrageous and disgusting. We continue to express our condolences to the families that lost a loved one as a result of this terrorist murder," Gibbs said Friday.
Gibbs also said the White House had been in contact with Libyan authorities. "We've registered our outrage. We have discussed with the Libyans about what we think is appropriate. We'll continue to watch the actions of this individual and the Libyan government."
Despite the strong words, the diplomatic end of the decadeslong Lockerbie saga is seen as unlikely to damage steadily warming relations between the West and Libya.
"It will introduce a note of caution in the West's dealing with Libya," said Diederik Vandewalle, a Libya specialist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. "I don't think it will have much of an impact at all."
The silence Friday and the last-minute toning down of celebrations the night before suggested that Libya wants to secure its ties with the United States and Europe, which have improved dramatically after years as a pariah state - in part over the 1988 attack, which killed 189 Americans.
Although Libya accepted formal responsibility for the bombing, many there see al-Megrahi as an innocent victim who was a scapegoat of the West.
The Libyan's lawyers have argued the attack was the result of an Iranian-financed Palestinian plot, and a 2007 Scottish judicial review of al-Megrahi's case found grounds for an appeal of his conviction.
Al-Megrahi, 57, who is dying of prostate cancer, was freed by Scotland on compassionate grounds after serving eight years of a life sentence over the attack. The decision infuriated the families of many of the U.S. victims.
Relatives of Americans killed in the bombing announced Friday that they plan to converge on New York City in September to protest Gadhafi's speech to the United Nations General Assembly during his first trip to the United States.
Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Libya, said it appeared that Libyan officials made a "last-minute attempt to stage a low-key reception."
"It seemed as some form of last-minute compromise between those who felt it their patriotic duty to welcome him and those in the Libyan hierarchy who wanted to heed the demands of the U.S. that it should be low-key," Dalton said.
"There was no Libyan dignitary to receive him and no formal reception. This is compulsory in Arab hospitality, so the absence of a welcoming party is quite significant," he added.
He cautioned against Western governments "acting too sharply" over the scenes of al-Megrahi's return.
"In Libyan terms, it was not a hero's welcome. They made pretty credible efforts of playing down the event," he said, adding, "But even the little they did allow was damaging and inappropriate."
Ahead of al-Megrahi's arrival Thursday night, it appeared that the leadership was planning a celebratory reception. Several thousand young men were bused in to the airport. On the tarmac where al-Megrahi's plane was to pull up, they danced to nationalist songs while a disc jockey encouraged them along.Many hoisted small solid-green Libyan flags while others held aloft Scottish flags.
But within minutes of the plane's landing, authorities rushed most of the crowd away, leaving about 300, and the nationalist songs were halted. Members of the international media who had been taken to the airport were hastily whisked away just before the arrival.
A Libyan TV channel connected to Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, had been granted exclusive rights to air al-Megrahi's arrival live. But it did not do so. Instead, it carried short clips of him descending the airliner's stairs hours later, about 1 a.m. Authorities said there were technical difficulties with the live broadcast.
Also, neither al-Megrahi nor Seif al-Islam Gadhafi appeared later at a previously planned rally at Tripoli's Green Square, a sweeping plaza where thousands of chairs had been set up. The rally was organized as partof celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Libya's revolution, and al-Megrahi's return did not appear to be mentioned during speeches at the rally.
On Friday, al-Megrahi told the Times of London newspaper that he had not told his 86-yearold mother that he is terminally ill. The newspaper said he had requested that reporters not tell her of his condition.
"This was my hope and wish - to be back with my family before I pass away. ... I always believed I would come back if justice prevailed," al-Megrahi was quoted as telling the newspaper at his home in the Dimachk district of Tripoli.
Announcing al-Megrahi's release Thursday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he was acutely aware of the bereaved families' pain. Cancer specialists have given al-Megrahi less than three months to live, and it is established legal practice to release prisoners that close to death on compassionate grounds.
There have been 30 requests for compassionate release in Scotland over the past decade, 23 of which were approved.
MacAskill said that while "those who have been bereaved cannot be expected to forget, let alone forgive, ... Mr. al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power."
The Scottish Parliament is to reconvene Monday, a week early, to discuss the Scottish justice secretary's decision torelease al-Megrahi.
Information for this article was contributed from London by Jill Lawless, Karolina Tagaris, Samantha Henry and Raphael G. Satter and from Washington by Matthew Lee of The Associated Press and by Karla Adam of The Washington Post.
Front Section, Pages 1, 9 on 08/22/2009