Scotland frees Libyan convicted in Lockerbie bombing

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

En nu dan nog een beslissing in 'het duel' tussen Schotse en Amerikaanse
nabestaanden, om herziening van het vonnis en schadevergoeding voor Libie
en Abdel Baset Ali Megrahi en zijn familie.

Groet / Cees

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-lockerbie-bomber21-2009aug21,0,993449.story

Abdel Baset Ali Megrahi is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. He was
serving a life sentence for the airliner blast that killed 270.
The Associated Press

August 20, 2009 | 5:26 a.m.

EDINBURGH, Scotland - The only man ever convicted in the bombing of a Pan
Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, was freed today on compassionate grounds
and allowed to return to Libya rather than die in a British prison.

Abdel Baset Ali Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer.

Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said Wednesday that he had
informed the families of the bombing victims that he had made a decision.

Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of taking part in the bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988. The airliner -- which was carrying mostly
American passengers to New York -- blew up as it flew over Scotland. All
259 people aboard and 11 on the ground died when the aircraft crashed into
the town of Lockerbie.

The former Libyan intelligence officer was sentenced to serve a minimum of
27 years in a Scottish prison for Britain's deadliest terrorist attack.
But a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal, and many in
Britain believe that he is innocent.

The prospect of the terminally ill Megrahi's release has angered relatives
of many American bombing victims, and is strongly opposed by the U.S.
government.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton phoned MacAskill urging him not
to release Megrahi, and seven U.S. senators wrote a letter with a similar
message.

Megrahi's trial and conviction led to a major shift in Libya's
relationship with the West.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi engineered a rapprochement with his former
critics following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He renounced terrorism,
dismantled Libya's secret nuclear program, accepted his government's
responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the
victims' families.

Western energy companies -- including Britain's BP PLC -- have moved into
Libya in an effort to tap the country's vast oil and gas wealth.

Kadafi has lobbied for the return of Megrahi, an issue which took on an
added sense of urgency when he was diagnosed with cancer last year. His
lawyers say his condition is deteriorating and doctors have given him less
than three months to live.

The question of whether to release the 57-year-old Megrahi has divided
Lockerbie families, with many in Britain in favor of setting him free, and
many in the U.S. adamantly opposed.

British Rev. John Mosey, whose daughter Helga, 19, died in the attack,
said Wednesday he would be glad to see Megrahi return home.

"It is right he should go home to die in dignity with his family. I
believe it is our Christian duty to show mercy," he said.

But American families have largely been hostile to the idea.

"I'm totally against it. He murdered 270 people," said Paul Halsch of
Perinton, N.Y., who lost his 31-year-old wife in the attack. "This might
sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way
my wife Lorraine was ... and that would be in a box."

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********