【ワシントン草野和彦】オバマ米大統領とキャメロン英首相は２０日、ホワイトハウスで会談した。会談後の共同記者会見で首相は、メキシコ湾岸原油流出事故を起こした英石油大手ＢＰについて、米国民の怒りに理解を示す一方、「ＢＰは両国の経済にとって重要。多くの両国民を雇用している」と擁護し、過剰な「ＢＰたたき」をしないよう求めた。(毎日新聞)
これだけだとどうして擁護するのかわからないので、元をたどると、ちょっとニュアンスが・・・
Obama, Cameron seek to ease BP tensions
Washington - US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to ease transatlantic tensions over BP Plc on Tuesday and both men reaffirmed the much-vaunted "special relationship" between their countries.
Cameron said he understood American public anger over BP's role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and tried to defuse US lawmakers' concerns that the oil giant may have influenced the release of the Lockerbie bomber from a Scottish prison last year.
But Cameron, under pressure at home to stand up for the British energy giant against the bashing it has faced in the United States, also insisted it was in US and British interests for the company to remain strong and stable.
Obama, whose approval ratings have been undercut by public outrage over the spill, avoided the tough language he has often used against BP over its handling of the Gulf disaster and played down the simmering controversy over the Lockerbie case.
"I completely understand the anger that exists right across America. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a catastrophe," Cameron told reporters as he stood side-by-side with Obama at a White House news conference. "It is BP's role to cap the leak, clean up the mess and pay appropriate compensation."
But he cautioned, "Let us not confuse the oil spill with the Libyan bomber."
Cameron insisted BP had no role in the release of the Abdel Basset al-Megrahi by Scottish authorities, which he opposed at the time, and promised his government would cooperate with any US congressional hearings into the case.
Obama said he was confident that the British government would cooperate to make sure all the facts are known about the case
というわけで、みなさん、David Cameron is to order the release of secret Government documents disclosing how BP pushed Labour ministers to agree to a controversial deal which led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber.というニュースがもう一方にあって、それとBPつながりで、ease BP tensionsだったことがわかります。
そこで、the Lockerbie bomberって、みなさん何のことかわかりますか？日本のニュースでは完璧に無視されれている部分ですが。
原点＝原典ですね。それにあたらないと、本当のことがわからない。
