LONDON (Reuters) – Scotland said on Monday it had no plans to request the extradition of the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was found guilty of bombing Pan Am flight 103 while en route from London to New York on December 21, 1988. A total of 270 people were killed.

Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment in Scotland, but released two years ago on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya because he was suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer and thought to have just a few months to live.

His release infuriated some politicians in the United States — home to many of the bombing victims — and the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi prompted hopes among some that Libya’s new leaders could allow Megrahi’s extradition.

However, Libya’s National Transitional Council said on Sunday it had no intention of agreeing to any such request, and Scotland has no plans to make one.

“At the present moment the only people with any authority in this matter are the Scottish government … and the new Libyan Transitional Council,” Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond told Sky News.

“We have never had, and do not have, any intention of asking for the extradition of Mr Megrahi,” he added.

LONDON (Reuters) – Riots that broke out across English cities this month have had little impact on the standing of Britain’s largest political parties among voters, a poll published Thursday showed.

The August Reuters/Ipsos MORI Political Monitor shows satisfaction with the government is unchanged from last month, with twice as many people dissatisfied with the ruling Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition as satisfied (59 percent compared to 30 percent).

The standing of the party leaders among voters was also little changed.

Support for the governing centre-right Conservative Party was broadly unchanged at 34 percent, as was that for Labour on 40 percent.

The Liberal Democrats — whose support slumped after the party entered government with the Conservatives last year — saw an increase of 4 points in its projected share of the vote to 15 percent, their highest share since last September, although Ipsos MORI said it was too early to say whether this indicated a sustained shift in attitude.

A parliamentary election does not have to be held until 2015.

BROKEN BRITAIN?

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron, under attack over his leadership during the rioting and looting that swept English cities this week, has enlisted U.S. street crime expert William Bratton to advise the government on handling gang violence.

“I’m being hired by the British government to consult with them on the issue of gangs, gang violence and gang intervention from the American experience and to offer some advice and counsel on their experience,” Bratton told Reuters in New York.

British police flooded the streets again on Friday night to ensure weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that shocked Britons and sullied the country’s image a year before it hosts the Olympic Games.

Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said 16,000 officers, instead of the usual 2,500, would remain on duty in London in their biggest peacetime deployment — a measure of the perceived public order challenge.

Other forces, including those in Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool, said they would maintain a high level of policing over the weekend, though they said they did not expect further trouble after a couple of nights of quiet.

Even in normal times, alcohol-fueled street disorder is common across urban Britain at weekends.

Cameron, describing the four nights of looting, arson and violence, in which five people were killed, as “criminality, pure and simple,” said the initial police response had been inadequate.

LONDON (Reuters) – Police prepared to flood the streets on Friday to ensure that weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that swept London and other cities this week, shocking Britons and sullying their country’s image a year before it hosts the Olympics.

Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said 16,000 officers, instead of the usual 2,500, would remain on duty in London in their biggest peacetime deployment — a measure of the perceived public order challenge.

Even in normal times, alcohol-fuelled street disorder is commonplace across urban Britain at the weekend.

Prime Minister David Cameron, describing the four nights of wild looting, arson and violence, in which five people were killed, as “criminality, pure and simple,” has called the initial police response inadequate.

His remarks drew a sharp response from the police service, which is facing deep cuts in numbers as part of a sweeping government austerity drive aimed at slashing public debt.

“The fact that politicians chose to come back is an irrelevance in terms of the tactics that were by then developing,” said Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, referring to Cameron and other senior ministers who cut short their holidays after two days of mayhem at home

More than 1,200 people were arrested during the unrest — and one London looter, 24-year-old Natasha Reid, turned herself into police because she could not sleep for guilt after stealing a television, according to her defence lawyer.

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) – British police prepared to flood the streets on Friday to ensure that weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that swept London and other cities this week, shocking Britons and sullying their country’s image a year before it hosts the Olympics.

Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said 16,000 officers, instead of the usual 2,500, would remain on duty in London in their biggest peacetime deployment — a measure of the perceived public order challenge.

Even in normal times, alcohol-fuelled street disorder is commonplace across urban Britain at the weekend.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, describing the four nights of wild looting, arson and violence, in which five people were killed, as “criminality, pure and simple”, has called the initial police response inadequate.

His remarks drew a sharp response from the police service, which is facing deep cuts in numbers as part of a sweeping government austerity drive aimed at slashing public debt.

“The fact that politicians chose to come back is an irrelevance in terms of the tactics that were by then developing,” said Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, referring to Cameron and other senior ministers who cut short their holidays after two days of mayhem at home.

More than 1,200 people were arrested during the unrest — and one London looter, 24-year-old Natasha Reid, turned herself into police because she could not sleep for guilt after stealing a television, according to her defence lawyer.

LONDON (Reuters) – England’s most senior cleric gave his first reaction on Thursday to riots across the country, saying the government’s stated priority of building stronger communities was now a matter of urgency.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the violence would “intensify the cycle of deprivation and vulnerability” in Britain.

“The government has insisted on the priority of creating stronger, better-resourced local communities. This priority is now a matter of extreme urgency,” he wrote in comments emailed to Reuters.

“We need to see initiatives that will address anxieties and provide some hope of long-term stability in community services, especially for the young.”

Williams generated front-page headlines earlier this year with an outspoken attack on government policies, but had not spoken publicly about the riots that erupted in England on Saturday.

“The tragedy of the events of recent days is that those who will pay the heaviest price are those who most need stability and encouragement in local communities,” Williams wrote.

“In no imaginable sense does the violence we have seen help anyone; those who have been involved have achieved nothing except to intensify the cycle of deprivation and vulnerability.”

LONDON (Reuters) – England’s most senior cleric gave his first reaction on Thursday to riots across the country, saying the government’s stated priority of building stronger communities was now a matter of urgency.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the violence would “intensify the cycle of deprivation and vulnerability” in Britain.

“The government has insisted on the priority of creating stronger, better-resourced local communities. This priority is now a matter of extreme urgency,” he wrote in comments emailed to Reuters.

“We need to see initiatives that will address anxieties and provide some hope of long-term stability in community services, especially for the young.”

Williams generated front-page headlines earlier this year with an outspoken attack on government policies, but had not spoken publicly about the riots that erupted in England on Saturday.

“The tragedy of the events of recent days is that those who will pay the heaviest price are those who most need stability and encouragement in local communities,” Williams wrote.

“In no imaginable sense does the violence we have seen help anyone; those who have been involved have achieved nothing except to intensify the cycle of deprivation and vulnerability.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Youths fought running battles with police in English cities and towns overnight but London, where thousands of extra police were deployed, was largely peaceful after three turbulent nights in which youths rampaged in parts of the capital virtually unchecked.

Manchester and Liverpool in the northwest and Birmingham in central England suffered the worst of the overnight violence, which broke out in north London on Saturday after a protest over a police shooting of a suspect two days earlier.

In Birmingham, police launched a murder inquiry after three Muslim men died after being run over by a car in the mayhem there. A friend of the men told BBC radio they had been part of a group of British Asians protecting their area from looters after attending Ramadan prayers at a mosque.

“The car swerved towards them. It was cold-blooded murder,” the friend said.

London itself was largely quiet, with some 16,000 police — 10,000 more than on Monday — sent onto the streets in a show of force in districts where gangs of hooded youths had looted shops and burned cars and buildings on the previous three nights.

Stephen Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said officers would be out in force again on Wednesday night.

“Tonight we are going to plan for the worst again, that is what London deserves,” he told BBC radio.

LONDON (Reuters) – British cities began on Wednesday to clean up shopping streets littered with debris from a night of looting by gangs of hooded youths copying the tactics of young Londoners who had rampaged through districts of the capital for three nights.

London itself was largely quiet on Tuesday night, with some 16,000 police — 10,000 more than on Monday — sent onto the streets in a show of force in districts where gangs had looted shops and burned cars and buildings virtually unchecked on the previous three nights.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short a family holiday in Italy to deal with the crisis, was due to chair a second meeting of COBRA, the government’s crisis committee, and recalled parliament, a rare occurrence, to debate the violence.

The chaos in London, and fears of further disruption, led to the cancellation of an England-Netherlands soccer friendly on Wednesday and the postponement of three club matches.

The looting also showed the world an ugly side of London less than a year before it hosts the 2012 Olympic Games, an event officials hope will serve as a showcase for the city.

A visit by an International Olympic Committee went ahead on Tuesday “as planned” and the London organisers of the Games said the violence would not hurt preparations for the Olympics.

While heavy policing in London prevented all but a few incidents in the capital, copycat looting and violence erupted in cities and towns to the north and west.

LONDON (Reuters) – Violence flared in English cities and towns on Tuesday night but London, where thousands of extra police had been deployed, was largely peaceful after three turbulent nights in which youths rampaged across the capital virtually unchecked.

Groups of youths in hooded tops fought running battles with police in Manchester in northwest England, smashing windows and looting shops. A clothes shop was set alight.

In Salford, greater Manchester, rioters threw bricks at police and set fire to buildings. A BBC cameraman was attacked. Television pictures showed flames leaping from shops and cars, and plumes of thick black smoke billowing across roads.

“Over the past few hours, Greater Manchester Police has been faced with extraordinary levels of violence from groups of criminals intent on committing widespread disorder,” Assistant Chief Constable Gary Shewan said.

“These people have nothing to protest against – there is no sense of injustice or any spark that has led to this. It is, pure and simple, acts of criminal behavior which are the worst I have seen on this scale.”

Further south in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, cars were burned and stores raided. A police station was firebombed by 30 to 40 males in Nottingham. No one was injured, police said.

In Liverpool’s Toxteth district, rioters set fire to two fire engines and a fire officer’s car, police said. Earlier, some 200 youths throwing missiles wrecked and looted shops, causing ‘disorder and damage’, police said.