Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested copies of all communications between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London and British diplomatic posts in the US which referred to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for the period 1 January 2009 to the date of her request, 30 September 2009. The FCO provided the complainant with a digest of a small amount of information falling within the scope of her request which it considered to be in the public domain but withheld the remainder of the information on the basis of sections 27(1)(a), 27(2) and 42(1). The Commissioner has concluded that this remaining information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(1)(a) and in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 27 - Complaint Upheld