The Foreign Secretary warned Libya today that its international reputation was at stake as the world watched its handling of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi's return home.
David Miliband said that the former pariah nation’s diplomatic relations would be damaged if the sense of triumphalism continued amid rumours that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi will hold a meeting with the Lockerbie bomber.
Mr Miliband refused to disclose London’s reaction to the release of al-Megrahi, but he deplored the carnival reception that greeted him in Tripoli.
"Obviously the sight of a mass murderer getting a hero’s welcome in Tripoli is deeply upsetting, deeply distressing," Mr Miliband told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
Al-Megrahi was released from prison on compassionate grounds yesterday on the orders of Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary. The terrorist had served less than eight years of his life sentence after destroying Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.
Mr Miliband said that Westminster had not been involved in the decision to release him and exerted no pressure on Edinburgh. He claimed that all eyes were now on the Libyan Government’s response to his release on compassionate grounds.
He said: "I think it’s very important that Libya knows, and certainly we have told them, that how the Libyan Government handles itself in the next few days after the arrival of Mr Megrahi will be very significant in the way the world views Libya’s re-entry into the civilised community of the nations."
Mr Miliband angrily denied reports that Britain had intervened in the release of al-Megrahi in order to improve commercial relations with oil-rich Libya. "I really reject that entirely; that is a slur both on myself and the Government," he said.
Scotland has also faced criticism for its role in the release, last night President Obama led widespread American anger at one of the most globally significant decisions yet made by the Scottish Executive. "We have been in contact with the Scottish government indicating that we objected to this," Mr Obama said. "We thought it was a mistake."
Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, denied that the controversial decision had harmed his country’s standing.
"I don’t think we’ve damaged Scotland’s reputation, on the contrary," he said. "We have to do what we think is right and proper and that’s what the Justice Secretary did."
Asked about the vociferous objections from the US, Mr Salmond said: "Our relationship with America is a strong and enduring one; it doesn’t depend on always reaching agreement."
In the United States, condemnation of the decision has been near universal with the State Department joining the White House and the victim’s families in describing their regret.
Susan Cohen, who lost her daughter Theodora, 20, in the disaster, said: "I think it’s appalling, disgusting and so sickening I can hardly find words to describe it."
As news channels broadcast images of al-Megrahi’s triumphant homecoming, Kara Weipz, whose brother died on the flight, said: "I don’t understand how the Scots can show compassion. It is an utter insult and utterly disgusting."
The decision taken by a softly spoken former lawyer in Glasgow yesterday has threatened to stymie the thawing relations between Libya and the United States.
The North African country, which was the target of US airstrikes in 1986, has eased its relations with the United States only recently after four decades as a bitter antagonist. The rapprochement began in 2003 when Colonel Gaddafi renounced terrorism and nuclear weapons.
Last summer, Condoleezza Rice, then Secretary of State, made a historic trip to Libya and met Colonel Gaddafi, whom President Reagan once dismissed as the "mad dog of the Middle East". Dr Rice was the highest-ranking US official to visit the country in more than half a century.
Mr Obama made a plea for a lack of triumphalism in Tripoli last night but within minutes a crowd of flag-waving locals met al-Megrahi as he descended from the steps of a private jet sent to collect him by the Libyan Government.
Wearing a dark suit and tie and leaning on a gold-rimmed walking stick he was taken from the airfield in a motorcade to the city centre, where the main square was lit up in green and blue in preparation for a celebration that included a feast and laser show.