A US senator examining the early release of the Lockerbie bomber has said he is considering sending investigators to Britain after British officials and BP executives declined to attend a hearing in Washington.

Robert Menendez, who is to chair the rescheduled congressional inquiry into the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, said that they were pursuing the possibility of sending individuals to England or Scotland to interview witnesses.

The US Senate's foreign relations committee postponed a hearing into the affair, due to be heard Thursday, after a series of key witnesses, including Jack Straw, the former UK justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, and outgoing BP chief executive Tony Hayward rejected invitations to attend....