The hearing will be chaired by Democratic senator Robert Menendez A hearing on the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is set to get under way in the US.
Democratic senator, Robert Menendez, will chair the session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
It will examine the circumstances of the release by Scots Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill – in particular claims of links to an oil deal involving BP.
Representatives of the company and both the UK and Scottish governments have declined to attend the hearing.
Megrahi was freed from Greenock Prison last year on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It was estimated that he only had months to live but he is still alive in Libya more than a year on.
A total of 270 people, mainly US nationals, died in the 1988 atrocity and to date Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted.
His release sparked an angry reaction in America.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee aims to examine claims that BP played a part in securing Megrahi’s release in a bid to safeguard an exploration deal with Libya.
The oil giant and both the British and Scottish governments have denied this and will not be represented at the hearing in Washington.
The committee will question doctors and officials from the US state department.
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