Events | 2009.08.14
Dying Lockerbie bomber drops appeal against conviction
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi\'s decision paves way for return to Libya but victims\' families fear \'truth will never be known\'
The Libyan intelligence agent convicted of killing 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing has dropped his appeal despite always denying he carried out the UK\'s worst terrorist attack.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is terminally ill with prostate cancer and it is understood he decided to abandon his appeal in a deal brokered by the Libyan and Scottish governments allowing him to fly home next week to die with his family.
Megrahi\'s lawyers will formally apply to abandon his case at the appeal court in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, just as the Scottish government\'s cabinet meets in Aberdeen to discuss proposals from the justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, to send Megrahi home.
These apparently choreographed events suggest Megrahi could fly home to Tripoli the same day, provoking accusations from Scottish politicians that a "special deal" had been struck to cover up the case.
Relatives of the 270 passengers, crew and Lockerbie townspeople who were killed when Pan Am flight 103 blew-up in midair on 21 December 1988 were also critical of the deal.
US relatives were furious, insisting he was guilty and should die in jail, but British relatives and the Scottish National party MSP Christine Grahame said ministers must hold a public and independent inquiry to discover the truth behind the attack.
Pamela Dix, a prominent British relative whose brother Peter was a passenger on the flight, said she was "really disappointed" and "frustrated" at Megrahi\'s decision to drop the appeal. It meant key questions about the bombing would remain unanswered.
"These questions are still out there: what was the motivation for the bombing, who ordered it, who carried it out and who was at the top of the chain of command," she said.
Martin Cadman, of Burnham Market in Norfolk, who lost his son Bill, 32, in the bombing, said: "I would wish to know the reason for Megrahi withdrawing his appeal. It\'s a very suspicious development which makes me wonder if someone has threatened Megrahi or Megrahi\'s family."
Asked about an inquiry, he said: "We must know the truth, it\'s too serious not to."
Grahame, who has visited Megrahi several times in prison, said the Libyan had been under duress since he had been "desperate" to prove his innocence.
"There are a number of vested interests who have been deeply opposed to this appeal continuing as they know it would go a considerable way towards exposing the truth behind Lockerbie," she said.
"A leaked email that I saw this week from an official in the Scottish Justice Department warned that senior Scottish officials were exerting undue pressure to have Megrahi drop his appeal. They appear to have been successful.
"Myself and other campaigners are however determined to fight on to get to the truth behind Lockerbie."
A Scottish government spokeswoman said claims that Megrahi was pressured were "baseless and ill-informed speculation".
Megrahi\'s lawyers have said they can prove that Megrahi was framed for the bombing after a key witness, the Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci, was manipulated into identifying him and then paid $2m. They claim they can disprove key scientific evidence and show that evidence against Syrian-backed Palestinian terror groups was deliberately suppressed.
Megrahi was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in August 2008 and has been told he has less than three months to live. This "compelling" evidence has increased speculation that MacAskill will free him next week on compassionate grounds, despite opposition from Barack Obama\'s administration.
It is understood Megrahi initially resisted pressure from his own government and Scottish ministers to drop the appeal, but agreed after it became clear it would make his release more likely. Megrahi\'s elderly mother is said to be very frail, and Megrahi has decided that being home with his wife Aisha and their five children is more important.
Tony Kelly, Megrahi\'s lawyer, disclosed yesterday that his cancer had taken "a significant turn for the worse" in recent weeks. The Scottish Prison Service has said it does not have the facilities to treat Megrahi at Greenock jail, where he is eight years into his 27-year minimum sentence.
Dropping the appeal makes it more likely that Megrahi will be sent back to continue his sentence in a Libyan jail under a prisoner transfer agreement agreed by Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi, rather than be granted compassionate release and freed.
Compassionate release would allow Megrahi to continue his appeal but the prisoner transfer treaty cannot be used if criminal proceedings such as an appeal are active. Gaddafi could then allow Megrahi home under house arrest or grant him compassionate release.
The Scottish government confirmed MacAskill was still considering both possibilities. "The justice secretary is continuing his considerations of both the applications before him, one under the UK/Libyan prisoner transfer agreement and the other on compassionate grounds. He expects to make a decision soon," a spokeswoman said.
Bill Aitken, the Scottish Tories\' justice spokesman, said: "Too much of this story has been characterised by secret briefings, hints of special deals and international cloak and dagger.
"Instead of confusion, we urgently need clarity from Alex Salmond\'s Scottish National party government. The Lockerbie atrocity cannot descend into this kind of diplomacy by spin and stealth.
"The position is straightforward. The Lockerbie bomber has been convicted by a Scottish court. Mr. Megrahi must be treated the same as any other prisoner in a Scottish jail. If he is to be released on compassionate grounds, there must be compelling medical evidence of extreme ill health. There must be no special deals."
Robert Brown, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: "It is unfortunate that as a byproduct of the politics over the release of Mr Megrahi the relatives of those who lost their lives in the Lockerbie tragedy will not have the opportunity to get to the bottom of what exactly happened."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/14/lockerbie-bomber-abandons-appeal
