Sunday, May 20, 2012

Funeral for convicted Lockerbie bomber set for Tripoli's main cemetery later today - @skynews

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi

Megrahi died at his home in Tripoli nearly three years after he was released from jail on compassionate grounds

6:07am UK, Monday May 21, 2012

He died from cancer at his home in the Libyan capital nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

David Cameron has dismissed calls for a fresh inquiry into the conviction of the ex-intelligence official in the wake of his death.

The Prime Minister also reiterated his stance that the Libyan terrorist should never have been released from jail after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

:: Profile of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi

Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town, which claimed 270 lives.

He was later diagnosed with cancer and controversially released from prison in August 2009 with an estimated three months to live.

But Megrahi, who always proclaimed his innocence, proved medical experts wrong and finally lost his cancer battle in Tripoli on Sunday at the age of 60, his son said.

:: 270 people were killed when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in 1988

:: 11 of the victims were residents killed when wreckage crashed to the ground

:: Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and told in 2003 that he must serve at least 27 years

:: He returned to Libya after being freed in 2009 on compassionate grounds

Lockerbie bombing

The Libyan's death has sparked renewed calls from campaigners for an independent inquiry into his conviction, with many raising doubts about his guilt and questioning if he acted alone in carrying out the atrocity. The Scottish government has said the case remains a live criminal investigation.

Robert Forrester, from the Justice for Megrahi group, said: "The Crown and successive governments have, for years, acted to obstruct any attempts to investigate how the conviction of Mr al Megrahi came about.

"Some in the legal and political establishments may well be breathing a sigh of relief now that Mr al Megrahi has died. This would be a mistake.

"Many unfortunates who fell foul of outrageous miscarriages of justice in the past have had their names cleared posthumously."

The group, which is seeking to have Megrahi's conviction quashed, is supported by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Desmond Tutu and Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing.

But Mr Cameron has moved quickly to brand a new inquiry unnecessary.

"I've always been clear he should never have been released from prison," he said. "I'm very clear that the court case was properly done and properly dealt with."

The Prime Minister said thoughts should be with the people who died in the "appalling terrorist act" and the suffering their families have endured.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond insisted the Lockerbie case remained a live criminal investigation and that authorities would rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry.

Get Adobe Flash player

"Mr Megrahi's death ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case but it does not close the book," he said, adding that the Crown's position has always been that Megrahi acted with others.

The bombing of Pan Am flight 103, travelling from London to New York four days before Christmas, killed all 259 people on board.

Eleven residents of the Dumfries and Galloway town also died after the plane crashed down on their homes in Britain's biggest terrorist atrocity.

After protracted international pressure, Megrahi was put on trial in the Netherlands.

He was found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars but was the only man ever brought to justice over the terrorist attack.

The decision, by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, to release him from Greenock prison and allow him to return home to die in Libya drew international condemnation.

Scottish ministers insisted the move was made in good faith, on compassionate grounds alone and followed the due process of Scots law.

But US president Barack Obama and his secretary of state Hillary Clinton branded it "absolutely wrong".

News of the Libyan's death has divided opinion.

The mother of one passenger said she hoped the convicted terrorist suffered a "painful, horrible" death, while a spokesman for some of Megrahi's British victims said his death was "deeply regretted".

Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, 20, was on the flight bound for John F Kennedy airport, said she believed Megrahi should have received the death penalty and felt no pity for him.

Speaking from her home in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, Mrs Cohen, 74, said: "He died with his family around him. My daughter died a horrible death when she was 20 years old with her full life ahead of her. You call that justice?"

She added: "We cannot let Megrahi's death stand in the way of the Scottish and American government finding out who else was involved in the bombings and the specifics of how it was done."

David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for some of the British families who lost loved ones, described Megrahi as the "271st victim of Lockerbie" adding that his death is to "be deeply regretted".

Mr Swire described the death as a "very sad event".

Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July.