>> tonight o"worldfocus" -- > british prime minister gordon brown weighs in on the freed lockerbie boer while so there are askin was it mpassion or business tha freed a killer? more violence i afanistan, as early election resultsshowed twopresidtial candidates neck and nk. our globalenvirment, we have reports on risingeaevels in southsia and endangered foreetses in africa. and sports fans turnut to welcome home he in south afri amid a growing controversover sex. >> from the world's leading reports and analysts, here's what's hpening from around the world. this is orldfocus." made possiblin part by the following funders major suppt has also been provided by the peter g. peters foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsility and addressing key economi challees facing america's future. >> good eving. i'm mart savidge. five days aer scotland released the man convicted of mbing a panjetliner over lockerbie, scotld killing 270 people, the controversynd the outrage over helease a his welcome home in bya continu today. the is, as you can imagine, a great de of analys and dissecon of the decision going on i theritish pres. scotland is, after all, a pt of the uned kingdo was there a deal for the terrorist release where, we british oil intests in libya a fact? the fascinatinquestions that e not getting much attenti in this couny and thate will focus on in amoment. but first, british prime mister gordon brown, he spoke out for t first time today abt abdelbaset al. megrahi and s hoecoming. >> myhoughts are with the oughtings of the victims. and i was both angry d i was repulsed by the eception that a convicd bomber guilty of a huge terrorist cme turned a return to libya. and that brings tous tonights "lead foc." our britishpartner, itn's been looking britain's relatiship with libbia, it business intert there, leading up to last wee's decision to release the lockerb bomber. as you'll see in johnsparks' report, one isleft with the impression tt at the very least, al megrahi release can't hurt the retionship. >> repter: the analysts call it real polit eke,oing practical deals the t of give and take. the uk a libya have been doing this for abo a decade. t how influential a commercial considerations where it is business fit in this complex mi libya is an exciting new stination for british business but did that extement influenc the decision to releeabdelbaset al. megrahi, the man convicted of the lockerbie bombing. scottish and british government say, absolutely not. but al megrahi's f and new business oppornities have alwa been part of lateral negotiations. 2007, lonel gadhafi'segime sought to re-enterhe inteational community after three decades of sanctis and the thenritish prime minister tony blairoffered a hand. they signed a nber of agreemen. making prison transfer deal, a massive oil contract involving bp folwed immediaty. this is a so-called package deal? >> a so-called deal in th desert, two things erged. one was a huge trunchf opportunity in the libyan oil industry for a very well-known international oil company. and e quid pro quo perps was the agreement thategrahi would be returned, i'm speculatg when i say th, but it does stin common sense a little to beeve that there was no connection between the two. >> reporter: the libyans wanted al megrahi to rurn home and a memoraum on prisoner transfers was drawn up and agreed to as part of the dealn the desert buit also served to endanger the future of british business inrests inlibya. this memorandum created a firm expection in the minds of the libyan that al megrahi wld be handed back and if that didn't ppen, if he had died i a scotti priso we there would had been severe consequences for bilaral trade,ormerritish diploms told us. and british companies have already made sgnificant instments in libya. bp signed an exploration deal worth $900 milln two years ago. it's larstxploration commitment in the rld. shell are ploring for gas in libya, as are bg. but libya has many suitors. the competitiois growingast. u.s. oil giant exxonmobil is now investin$97 milon i ploration and libya's national oil cmpany has partnership deals with eveone from ssia's gazprom to th italian git en to japanese from nippon oil. anysts callibya the most exciting investment opportunity in the wor with $50 billion of vernment contractson offer over the next three years. yet is notorisly bureaucratic a controlled by one family, british businesses depend on thek governmento he them compete. >> this is whe they do require politica expertise. people wo o can help them navite some the decisionmaking processe open doors. arrae meetings. arrangevisas. all sorts of levels. so,yeah, learly, bitish governme and gornments from otr markets to -- fr other countries,can help business considerably. >> reporter: the relatnship tween uk plc and the government is lose. because in bya, it has to be. businesses wilcertainly be glad th al megrahi was released on compassnate grounds, but were th lobbying for it, too? >> that was john sparksor itn. for a closer look at britain's relationip with liby we are joineby jeff rter the head of middle eastn and african affairsor the eurasiagro, a political research and consulting firm. welce. >> thank you >> what sort of busine interest doeshe uk really have libya? >> well,he uk's interest in libya are primarily restricted to t crbonso oil. the only exposu britain has to libya is in theoil sector primarily rough bp, british petreum. >> the reamoney questio to what extent you think that that interest mayave influenced the cision to let this lockerb bomber go free? >> i don think you n discount it entirely. i don't think it was the fundamtal driver in the decision t release megrahi. but when dealing th libya oil is alwayst front of mind. libyadoesn't have much to offer except oil and gas. and were n for oil and gas i wouldn't think that many pple woulpay attention to libya. so one has to think that business interests were at last somewhere inhe calcultions, if not the primary driver. and i wold be perhaps wrg to tnk that this is something that just materialized i the last f moths? this habeen worked on tween libyand the uk andscotland, what, for a while? that that's correct, yeah. ny blair and moammaradhafi the lear of libya sat down and during their discussns, i ink that theyegotiated prison exchange prram. in addition over the cours of the la couple of years, the prisoner alegrahi had appeared for the right to have a retrial. based on new evidence that therwas indications tat the prosecution hawithheld evidence from thedefense. >> wel i want to get to tha because ianted to find out, what other factors may hve influenced theelease beyond just, say, business. >> right. >> and now 're lking about this appeal. how do you thin that did play into all of this? >>we, the was -- there were increasing indications that the prosecution perhaps ha mishandled the evidence that they were prested with. and in fact, withheld so evidence fm the defense. an in 2008, megrahi won the ght from the scottish judiciary review board to apeal his convicon. >> so the thinking that rhaps withhis appeal, he could actually win the legitimateight to gofree, that he would say it wasn't me? >> right, there was a ge amount of spulation that if he were to appeal that the case would be declarea mistrial and th he would free on his own tes oppos by the terms set the justice minister. >> better to give m the rease and make it seemas if he was guilty than to let him g forwarwith the appea >> right as it now stan he remains guilty of the bombing of panm 3. a mirial,e'd beinnocent. and no one wod be guilty. the case is officiallyclosed. will probly not be relsed to e public. >> an we'll never know. >> right. who do you think has been damaged this the most, the united ngdom or libya? >> well i tnk the unit kidom looks like they'ren disarray it looks li lack of counication betweegordon brown antaking place scotland. in addition it lookss if libya has shown tha it's tone-deaf to w the world proceeded libya. libya has these cebratory return a that really offend a lot of people. libya d it for its own reasons but without sensitivity to how pele may perceive. >>eave there. jeff poter, thank you very much. >> my plsure. shift another part of the world where tensions seem tbe easing between north andouth korea, as well as betweenorth koreand the u. the north, for example, h reported made a new overture to the united ates, inviting top american envoys for a visit. so wethought it would be help to se what seems tbe in context for you even a south rea launched a missilef its own today from seoul, tny birtley from al jazeeraenglish plains what's going on >> reporte lifting off south kores attempt to becoming a space-age nion, itsirst rocket caring and observation satellite was ccessfully launched from site 500 kilometersouth of the capital seoul. built with russian know-how t narrow rocket a result of a $4 milliroject and brings more -- with its feuding neighbor, rth korea. south korea says the program is purely for scientific and peacef purposes designed to get the country into the lucrative satellite mart. the noh says the technology used for rkets cld easily be used to produc balltic missiles. the la -- in its ate is still brisking inthe afterburn if last rocket last april which ey claim was carrying a communication's satellite b in which the intnational communy say was the cover of a st of a tape oncdong ii missile. launched in u.s.sanctions. north rea's withdrawal from 6-party talks and n opened defiance it staged its second autoomic test. they cimed they were treated unfairly and say watching closely to watch the international reaction toouth korea's rocket launch. andven been ggestionings of a military strike on the south. ke is highly unlikely. military if anything, t criticism from the nth is being ratheruted cong mostly from its ofcial news agncy, and notrom seni members of the establishmt. and there are factors whch suest that relations withhe westare actual improving. >> repter: the meeting in seoul on snday between the north koreanelcation and esident lee, the south koan leader, is proof of that. it was the first high-level meetinbetween the two countries in two years. the ight twing in the hardlinetance started whe former u. president bill clinton went to pyongyang to secure the release of two american cizens. a clear signal, say obserrs, that north korea was better relations. >> translato the u.s. wants talks withorth korea, and noh korea wantsto normalize north korea/u.s. relations through alogue and with jim kongil's physil condition getting better. it will eventually lead to a bett relationship. so signsre good. >> reporter: kim jong-il, the north korean leader, is thought to have suffered stroke year ago and his improving health is important better relations. he's been en at cent public engagements an is said to be enthiastic about better times with the u.s. both to help the economy of h impoverished coury and to improve rlations with the sout and the ght-wing government of president lee. the north has announced th enng of its sef-imposed blkade and the resumption of unions have dividamilies splitetween north and south which were suspended in 2007. with the launchf the naow rocket, uth korea underlining s place as a modern, progssive country. it's ligh years away fro where thnorth istoid. maybe noa change of heartnd a willingness toengage with the outside wor. but wi its history brinkma brinkmannship andefiance, nothinis ever certain with north korea. tony birtley, al jazeera, seoul. >> although thatouth korean missile was suessfully launched, itfailed to propel a tellite into the proper oit. that satellite was supposed to observe theearth's oceans and atmosphere. there was a huge ad deadly explosn in afghanistan tonight. it happed in the southern city of kandahar, that the spiritl center of the taliba officials said at least 41 ople were killed when five hicles filled with exploves detonated at se time. it happened in an area where international d organizions and a japaneseconstruction coany are located. also in southern afghanistan, four u.s. soldiers were kled today when their vehicle hit an improvid explosive dece. e loss of the americanset a grim mileen. >> afghanistan. this became e for innaea for inernational forces since the war began in 01. with 295 killed since january of the 172 were americans making this also the deadliest year in afghanista for e united states st over 800 amicans had been killed since the war began. although just a fraction of the ves have been counted so far in last week's presidential contest in afghistan, the country's elecon commissioner released some preliminary results today. and th show a prettytight race with psident hamid karzai and his to challger, abdullah abllah, both with roughly40% of the vote if neither m gets more tn 50%,hey will face a runoff this fall. one of the legacies of the wars in afgnistan and iraq, of course, ishe dention terror suscts at guaanamo bay, cuba. th afgn man, mohammedjawad was one the youngest peopl evereld at the ison. now, abo mohammed jawad was return yesterd. after sending almost seven years at guantanamo. >> translator: i'very happy. i can't even fit to my clothes. i spent a long time in jail. thanks to god'm have happy to be back with my faly. >> was freed by a military judge which ruled he had been forced to confess. relatives claid he was only 12 when he wa arrested. although the pentagon said test put his ag at closer to 17. s lawyers claim jawad was repeatedlyortured while in jail. and that tkes uso our w segmen "how you see it." we'd like to know from you, w tention at guantanamo the right treatmt for mammed jawad or not? how should t united states dealith teror suspects arsted when they are still children you can let us know by gong to the "how you see it"ection on our website a worldcus.org. we'll rert back on what you said tomorrow. well last night, we asked you another qstion about afghanistan abou dpening amican involvement and whether the united stes should send in evenore troops to battlthe taliban as t security situatiothere deteriorates. had a robust response wi a good deal of divisn on the issue. here's how some of you saw it. one viewer told us. "history'shown that afghan wars are long, ptracted and rare decive. the.s. should notaste huma resources infghanistan. therare other ways the u.s. can support mocracy in afghistan withoutending troops -- intligence, frastructure aid, humanitaria aid and political support. save ourroops for when they are really needed." but another viewer wrote, "i the comnders are sayinthat more troops are required, would achie stability in afghanisn, then we need to provide the the alternative of the taliban being free to run that country and to plan to damage or destroy our civilization in t usa and in europe is unacceptable. that would also encourage other violent outlaw gups to cause maem." in toght's "worldfocus" spotlight segmt, we're going to tak an in-depth look at the global vironment. with t stoes from very fferent cultures that illustrate t great challens the world fces in trying to protect that environment. first, we g to the sohern african nation ofozambique, wherpoverty and the need for fuels causinghe dimation of the forests. you're going to hear from ne man whowas torn by what he has to do to get by. haru mutasa ofl jazeera englh shows us what's at stake. reporter: they've been chopping down trees. 's what they rememb. it what their fathers and grandfathers did. the united tions says forest ins africa are cut do at a rate of mo than 400 million -- a yr. twice the deforestation average. cong down at alarming rate. the women in the village gather up the lo. preparations to ke the charcoalre made. and the pi is -- governmentfficials in mozambiqueay this is a choi of fuel for about 80% of the populaon. of the three days, baking inside this kiln will tur into arcoal. a valuab source of income for poor families. this is what the finished product looks like. 50 killram bag of charcoal can make up to $5 u.s. dollars. he does what h needs to fd his family. the father of tree walks up to 20 kilo meters to ma chaoal. he says he knows wt he is dointo the environment but he has no choice. >> translator: know i'm destroying the envonment when i cudown trees but i'm suffing. if i d't do this i won'te ab to support my family. >>eporter: inigger towns, three times the price. the country i still recovering from 16 years of cvil war. many rely on charcoal as a cheap urce energy. >> charcoal is qite an urn problem. and i think if the incom power of urban population n grow, that would be more jobs, people wod earn enougho actually buy energy and buy electric stes. could that b a big help. >>eporter: butmozambique is one of the poorest countries in the wold. electricy is a luxury. as long as charcoal is eap, people will continue to cut down trees. communities happy abouthe money ty're making now may ly realize the full extent of the damage done to the environment decades later. haru mutasa, al jeera, mozambique >> now, let's go across the indian ocean for a look at how climate change is literly swallowi up a nati. that nation is the ma ease. arco poleff of southeast ina. the comment by the president of the maldiz as this reprt from deutsche welle especially telling, as hisountry so may go the rest of t world. >> reporter: is an island in t north malaye group. it's home to abt 2,0 people. forenerations they have lived from the sea butnow the sea itself is threating their liveliod. the land here has been vanishing here foyears. and the rate o erosion is increasing. is year some 15%f the land massave been lost tthe rising sea lel. people are worri. not long ago, they could look out to the sea, but now the waves are gna wing the beach away >> tralator: just two weeks ago you could sit out hre comfortably and look out tohe ocean in eving. now just look the beach's alreadsappeared. the war is geing highe and higher and the tes are getng stronger. >> reporter: just a few days ago the war inundated the strees. the wer allut destroyed th small harbor here. >> translato we got the land years ago anwe built a house. but now thesea is tearing huge eces of our land away from us. we try to put new sand down. again andagain. 're getting very worried abt it. >> rorter: some residents have already left to hadu. and moved to other islands o the maltse but ths, too has had disasous csequences. the cmunity is dying. aditional jobs are being lost. ose who stay here can often onlyind work on the tourist islands. thgovernment is trying to educatyoung residents of the the malteswith a special land school. studts of all aes learn the facts abou clite cnge. and th affects it's having on the maltese. they learn about what will happen othe iand of toola do and how long theinevitable can be delayed. malaye is e capital of the land state. sea defenses her may look ugly bu they're effective, at leas for now. the wly elected present is forgg plans to protectthe maltese against thdark predictionof what's to come. >> as maese standst the front line of climate cnge and the effects of clate change, yo know wt happens to the maltese today will be what happens the rest of theorld tomorrow. so basically what is suggesting is thatf you cannot look after the maltese now, it goin to beery difficult f you to look aft yourself tomorrow. >> reporr: the president's plan is t buy up la in india, sri lanka indonesia, a place where his people can take refuge when the time comes. he wantshe world's first climateefugees to know that they ha a secure future. he set up a specialund to finance the plan with money generate by the touri dustry. it's a pn that is being put in place quieeime being, at least, the maltese wants toemain a paradise for tourists. and final this evening, a story about identity. thatisraising questions around th orld. and wh promed along scussion right here athe "wldfocus" newsroom this morning. when-year-old cast semenya won the world chamonship race last week in berlin, south africans got rea to celebrate. but landing in johanneses burg today, senya wasmet with chants and signs th celebrated gend as much asvictory. when deated rivals but a crhing 2 1/2-second margin, international sports officials were alrea questiong whether this young wan is actually a man. the young athlete had no cment on the ntroversy. only on being a world champi. >> i don't knowhat to sa man. i'm pretty good to read it. feel good to bring ithome. >> but at a news conference the ex-wife of former preside else son mandela, pulled no punches. lashing out at aegations that e athletes he -- and sudden iproved peormances. signs she's a he,giving her an unfair advantage. >> to thse who conducted those tes to test ourgender, they can stuff their -- nobody's going to pay for ma tsts on end. >> semenya's not accused of cheating. what the track and fie gorning body wants tonow is ether her phyology makes her elible to run again women and men. figuring out thenswer to the ma or woman question will involve a gynecologist, an endochronologist, psychologist and internal medice specialist andgender expt. inouth africa,semenya's supportersay the conoversy stemfrom jeals and racial discrimination. test results en't epected for severa weeks anthat's "worldfocus" for a tuesday evening. you can find a lot me news and tell us at's on your mind at worldfocus.org. i'm martin savge in new york. as always, tnk you very much for joining us. and we'llook for you back here again tomorrow andnytime on the we until then, good night. "worldfocus" imade possible ipart by the folling funders -- -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com major support haalso been provided by the peter g. peteon foundation dedicated to promoting fisc responsibility and addrsing key economic challenges facing america's future.