Prime minister Gordon Brown has said he was "repulsed" when the Lockerbie bomber received a hero’s welcome in Libya.

Mr Brown had been criticised for remaining silent on the issue, which has caused considerable controversy on both sides of the Atlantic.

President Barack Obama said the welcome in Libya for the convicted bomber was "highly objectionable". Opposition politicians have called for Mr Brown to break his "deafening silence" and comment on the issue also.

In his first comments since Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was freed, Mr Brown said he was angry about the jubilant scenes in Tripoli.

The PM was asked about the issue at a press conference following talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He used strong words, saying he was "angry and repulsed" at the celebration in Libya, but did not comment on the decision to free Megrahi itself.

British officials have said they wrote to the Libyan government asking for a "low-key" reception for Megrahi.

He was serving a life sentence in Scotland for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airplane over Lockerbie which killed 270 people. He was released on compassionate grounds last week, as he is suffering from prostate cancer, said to be terminal.

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