C.Foo 3 Report post Posted August 13, 2009 Lockerbie Bomber 'Will Be Released Next Week' 7:02am UK, Thursday August 13, 2009 The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing will be released on compassionate grounds due to his terminal cancer, Sky News has learned. Left: devastation after the Lockerbie bombing, right: Megrahi at the time of his arrest The decision on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi rests with Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. He visited Megrahi in Greenock jail last week to discuss his application for release and has also met the families of Lockerbie victims. The Scottish Government says a final decision has not yet been made. But Sky sources say Mr MacAskill will make an announcement next week to grant freedom on compassionate grounds to the 57-year-old Libyan, who has advanced prostate cancer. "Many relatives of the victims on this side of the Atlantic will be pleased - they have long believed the wrong man was convicted," said Sky's Scotland correspondent James Matthews. "But American relatives will be furious as they have insisted this man should die in jail." Megrahi is terminally ill Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie as it flew from London to New York on December 18, 1988. All 259 people on board were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground. Libya has repeatedly called for Megrahi's release - most recently at a meeting between Gordon Brown and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last month. The Scottish Government has been considering a request for him to be freed on compassionate grounds in addition to a separate plea for him to be transferred to a Libyan jail. The news that Megrahi may soon be able to return to Libya was met with outrage from Susan Cohen, an American women whose 20-year-old daughter Theo was among the victims. "You send him back - he will be a hero and Gaddafi will be able to forget the whole thing," she told Sky News. "I'm sick of hearing about compassion - have your compassion for all those people who died." However, Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, said he welcomed the decision as he had believed for several years that Megrahi was not guilty as charged. He told Sky News: "I feel that to keep him in prison for this long, when he's known to be dying, is inhumane. "If Scotland repatriates him now, particularly on compassionate grounds, then that will be to Scotland's credit." From http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Lockerbie-Bomber-To-Be-Released---Al-Megrahi-Is-Suffering-From-Cancer/Article/200908215359848?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_0&lid=ARTICLE_15359848_Lockerbie_Bomber_To_Be_Released_-_Al_Megrahi_Is_Suffering_From_Cancer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
