The Hill News

Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) announced Monday that they'll be pressing British and Scottish officials for more answers on the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Having said the foreign governments were "stonewalling" by refusing to provide witnesses for a Senate hearing on the matter, Menendez and Lautenberg penned a letter to Scottish First Secretary Alex Salmond asking a number of questions they'd hoped to ask in person.

Billing their approach as a "new plan" to get answers on Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's release, Menendez and Lautenberg pledged the letter would be "the first in a series."

“In reviewing the documents available from your inquiry in the absence of direct testimony, it seems that the inquiry was quite limited, which leads me to the first series of questions we would appreciate your help in answering," the New Jerseyan said.

In this initial letter, Menendez and Lautenberg press Salmond o! n that alleged deficiencies of the Scottish government's own investigation into the matter.

"Why was there no inquiry by an independent, professional investigator with the power to compel testimony and the production of documents?" the senators ask.

Lautenberg and Menendez, as well as their New York colleagues, Sens. Charles Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D), have been pressing for more answers on al-Megrahi's release since reports surfaced that he is in better health than once expected.