Abdelbaset al Megrahi

Reports from Libya today state the former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al Megrahi, has died.

East Renfrewshire Council, which is supposed to receive updates about his condition following his early release from prison, has said it has received no official confirmation of his death but it is investigating.

The Foreign Office said it does not know if the reports are accurate, but they are "seeking further information".

A Scottish court in 2001 convicted Megrahi, 60, of the 1988 attack on Pan Am flight 103, but he was freed on compassionate grounds in 2009 because doctors said he was battling prostate cancer and had only three months to live.

He was greeted like a hero by the Gaddafi regime on his return to the country in 2009having served eight years of a 27-year sentence.

He was the only person convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

To the end, Abdelbaset al Megrahi always insisted he was an innocent man and had nothing to do with the attack, which killed 270 people, most of them American students flying home for Christmas.

Born in Tripoli in 1952 and educated in the United States and the UK, the former Libyan intelligence officer was added to the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list seven years after the atrocity.

He did not fit the stereotype of an international terrorist.

Smartly dressed and quietly spoken, he portrayed himself as a family man who had been the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice.

After almost seven months and evidence from 230 witnesses, Megrahi was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 27 years.

A director of Libya's Centre for Strategic Studies and later put in charge of Libyan
Arab Airlines' security operations, prosecutors said he used his position to organise, prepare and carry out the Lockerbie bombing.

Fragments of clothing, found wrapped around the timing device, linked him to the attack.

He was also identified by Maltese businessman Anthony Gauci, who claimed he sold
items of clothing and an umbrella to a Libyan man who looked "a lot" like Megrahi three weeks before the bombing.

After a lengthy investigation by UK and US police forces, Megrahi was indicted in 1991.

However, years of lengthy diplomatic bargaining with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi followed before he was handed over for trial.

Megrahi and his co-accused, compatriot Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, eventually faced a trial in 2000, conducted under Scottish law at a specially convened court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.

Costing an estimated £75m, it was one of the most complex trials ever staged.

His co-accused was cleared.

A first appeal against his conviction was rejected in March 2002.

Five years later, his lawyers successfully applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and the case was referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Eight years after he was found guilty of blowing up the jet, Megrahi dropped the appeal.

On August 21, 2009, Megrahi was released from Greenock Prison on compassionate grounds amid a storm of protest from victims' families.

But while many of the relatives are convinced of his guilt, there are some, particularly in Britain, who believe he was innocent.

I am 1 of the dissenting voices.
I ask you to read this link here. It will take you back to 11 post relating to this subject.
Some of them with praise, some of them critical, some of them questioning of evidence.

Please just have a wee read!

The 1 thing I know today is certain members of the British Government, Scottish Government and both the UK and USA intelligence services tonight are breathing a lot easier. The 1 man who remained, that knew the actual truth has now gone !!!!

Wikileaks, Megrahi release and the UK government.

Below is a copy of the letter of 5 November 2008 from Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland to the Libyan embassy.

This letter was published eighteen months ago by the Scottish Government.

It relates to the Wikileaks news, all over today’s media, that Bill Rammell, a Foreign Office minister in the Labour Government of Gordon Brown was actively engaged in dialogue with Libya about the possible release of Megrahi, in spite of denial by the then British Labour Government.




A spokesperson for the First Minister said:

“The importance of this letter is that it shows beyond doubt that, regardless of whatever the then Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell was communicating to the Libyan authorities, the First Minister made it absolutely clear that compassionate release could not be considered at that time because Megrahi did ‘not conform to the guidance on life expectancy for release on compassionate grounds’, and no application had been received.

It was an entirely different matter by August 2009 when the Justice Secretary took the decision, by which time Megrahi’s condition had become ‘hormone resistant’, and the report of the Scottish Prison Service Director of Health and Care said that his clinical assessment was that a three-month prognosis was a reasonable estimate, drawing on the work of a range of specialists and other Scottish Health Service professionals involved in Megrahi’s care from when he was first diagnosed with cancer in September 2008.‪‪”

The reference in the Wikileak cables that the First Minister said he would take the decision is “entirely wrong, and fourth hand information” – as we said on 7 December. This reference in the cable of 28 October is based on a conversation that the US Charge d’Affaires in London had with an FCO official who himself was reporting what he had heard about a discussion between the First Minister and Jack Straw.

What the First Minister said is that he would reply to the letter on behalf of the Scottish Government – which he did, on 5 November, rejecting consideration of compassionate release at that time.

OTHER COMMENT FROM THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

“This leaves the former UK Labour government with all the questions to answer about its conduct.

“This diplomatic correspondence, much of which has already been made public, totally vindicates the Scottish Government’s position. We were clearly the only ones playing with a straight bat and interested in applying the precepts of Scottish justice, which we continue to do and continue to uphold.

The cables confirm what we always said – that our only interest was taking a justice decision based on Scots Law without fear or favour, which was exactly what was done, and that our public position was identical to our private one.

“The decisions to reject the PTA application and grant compassionate release were taken by the Justice Secretary, according to the precepts of Scots Law.

“The cables also show that the former UK Government were playing false on the issue, with a different public position from their private one – which must be deeply embarrassing for the Labour Party in Scotland – and that the US government was fully aware of the pressure being applied to the UK Government.”


Why am a banging on about this.................because my country plyed this by the etter...........and despite the retoric of many MILIIOMS of others where not the ones who stood before the world..............AND LIED !!!

I doubted Salmonds position on this many times.............all we need now is comms directly to Salmond from Westminster and I hope Wikileaks have them and get them out ASAP.

Taken for below with thanks
© Copyright Peter Curran 2010............See Here

So it was a Lie

See Here

It now transpires that a Foreign Office minister sent Libyan officials detailed legal advice on how to use Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

Gordon Brown you duplicitous lying bastard.

Bill Ramall name seems in the frame here...................yes the same said Bill Ramall who was involved in the soldiers compensation cut back plan.

Funny how the same bunch of shit sticks seem to come out from under their rocks.

What gauls me is that when this shitty incident occurred my proud wee country was hammered.

Hundered ..........nee Thousands of blog posts popped up all over the world...........most viciously from the USA slating us.

Called us cowards
Calling us crooks
Calling us Traitors even.

Banning of Scottish goods, holiday over here etc etc.

When all the time it was Westminster and Blair who started it off........Ramell made it happen..........Brown lied about it..............and The playboy Price Andrew also had his sticky fingers in the pie.

The SNP administration were duped................but sadly as a proud Scot and an SNP voter I feel they also lied.
They did not have to do it...............but they did.

And for that I am truely gutted.

There are no people of sustance anyomore in our political system. They to a man bend/contort and massage the system to suit themselves and never for the benefit of us. We can not hold them to account easily. The exp scandal has shown that

Prepare for the mess

The release of the Lockerbie Bomber caused a shit storm.

Lots of oil deals, shaddy Mandlesnake meetings, it was Scotland not Westminster yada yada yada.

I blogged here and Fido was also very ferocious about the potential wrong conviction of al-Megrahi.

Well today same said al-Megrahi has released a 300 page dossier detailing the challenge to his conviction.

The Times has it here and not yet very juicy as they are only just out.

But prepare for the mess now, as the docs get a good looking over and some more info comes to the surface.

If I was in or an ex member of the CIA, I might be having a sleepless night or 2. Coupled with that a few UK political figures may also be restless this evening.

Looking forward to the next few days!!!!!!

Conspiracy Theory??

Ok here's 1 for you.

Last night the Scottish Government took a wee kick up the jacksy and lost its vote on the Lockerbie Bomber release.

In a nutshell it lost the votes was said to be historic as the current SNP administration was on the wrong end of a 73 to 50 vote count in favour of amendments criticising both the justice secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision and his handling of the matter.

Lots of other stories flying around today about Scotland sending a message to the world that it did not agree with the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.

However al-Megrahi is in Libya and no amount of chest beating is now going to change that.

But here comes the theory.

Labour has its ass in a sling right now.
But thay have most probably the most slimy individual within there ranks in 1 Peter Mandleson.
You talk to most every single Scot in the street and they all say they are totally pee'd off with the current administartions actions on this topic.

In the last general election Labour was returned to Westminster.
A simple results search show that based on England and Wales votes only there would right now be a Tory administration.
However throw in the fact we have the first past the post system and the inclusion of the Scottish results and Labour are back in the hot seat.

Now I do not want another blame the Scots thing here as that was over 4 years ago, but as I said Labour is in a mess.

Labour needs Scotland.
So add the, as I stated, Slimey hand of Lord Fondlebum, cause a political shit storm in releasing al-Megrahi and pinning the blame 100% on the Scottish administration.

Well you current get to go for a vote like last night, you get the peoples backs up saying phrases like "Scotland - Not in our name", you then get to attempt to oust for want of a better description the current administation and return Labour back to Holyrood. People hacked off, no SNP votes, Labour back as lets face it you will NEVER get a Tory administation in Scotland. Auntie Annabel is just adding to the numbers really.

Labour needs Scotland and Holyrood, and come the next general election in about 280 days time, the curent mess of Labour means every single vote is needed North and South of the Border. Plus lets face it anywhere Mandleson is you know dirty little tricks are being played.

Just a theory?????????????

Intersting analysis here

Lockerbie letters to be made public

Lockerbie letters between Downing Street and Scottish Executive to be made public.

Ok so I am not breaking ground with an exclusive story here buts lets be honest shall we.

The phone between Holyrood and Westminster must have been red hot last night and thoose poor secretaries typing well into the night.




Ring Ring

Hello

Gordon its Peter. I am going to send you a draft of what I need said tomorrow. Dont worry we will keep my name out of its and lets those scotchmen carry the can.

Ring Ring

Hello

Alec its Gordon, Peter says......

Stop there Gordon.......whats in it for me????????????

Did MacAskill Lie???

The Times is reporting that Strathclyde Constabulary have come out all guns blasing and have contradicted Kenny MacAskill speech on Monday about al-Megrahi's release.

As a result Auntie Annabel has accused MacAskill of misleading Holyrood and the public yesterday after Scotland’s largest police force cast serious doubt on a key part of the Justice Secretary’s explanation for freeing the Lockerbie bomber to return to Libya.

The force contradicted the SNP Justice Secretary, who told the Scottish Parliament on Monday that he had ruled out keeping al-Megrahi in Scotland on the advice of senior officers who said that the security implications would be severe.

Instead he opted to allow al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, to return home to Libya on compassionate grounds.

In a statement, a Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: “If a decision had been made to release Mr al-Megrahi in Scotland, we would have provided whatever security was required.

“We were asked how many officers would be required to provide security and we provided that advice. All we are saying is that we were asked about the level of security which would be required for al-Megrahi, members of his family and the local community should he be released.

“We were asked how many [officers] it would take in our opinion. In terms of guidance we were not asked whether we could do this.”

On Monday, in a statement, Mr MacAskill told MSPs: “It had been suggested that Mr al-Megrahi could be released from prison to reside elsewhere in Scotland. Clear advice from the deputy chief constable of Strathclyde Police was that the security implications of such a move would be severe. A minimum of 48 officers would be required simply to allow Mr al-Megrahi to live in Scotland. I therefore ruled that out as an option.”

The development was seized on by opposition parties who accused Mr MacAskill of misleading the Scottish Parliament and the public.

Miss Goldie said that the Justice Secretary’s statement was “unfair to the police, misleading to the public and a lame excuse for sending Mr al-Megrahi back to a hero’s welcome in Libya. It is clear that the Scottish government only paid lip service to investigating whether Mr al-Megrahi could be kept here.”

I think this is going to be my last post on this subject. It has gone on too long and al-Megrahi is in Lybia. That is a fact and nothing ANY nation say will bring him back. I feel a bit for MacAskill on this subject and Auntie Annabel is not really thinking before speaking. In a nut shell if the Police said we need XXX amount of officers and equipment - MacAskill then looked at that and felt.....nope too much money for the tax payer then he actually IMHO made the right call!!!

UPDATE Last night after the Scottish government contacted Strathclyde Police, the force issued a second statement denying that there had been any difference of position between itself and the Justice Secretary. HHHHMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Libya...another reason........or is it.

The gent in the photo is President Merz of Switzerland.
He flew to Libya as Al-Megrahi was being released.

Why you ask.

Well please read on.

In July 2008 Swiss police arrested Colonel Gaddafi’s son Hannibal and pregnant daughter-in-law in a Geneva hotel suite after receiving reports that they had abused their two servants. Hannibal Gaddafi, 33, and his wife, Aline, spent two nights in custody and left Switzerland after being released on bail.

The Gaddafi family were furious and reprisals were swift. Two days later Mr Goeldi, a director of the Swiss engineering company ABB, was arrested at his Tripoli home, as was Rachid Hamdani, another Swiss citizen. Both were imprisoned for alleged breaches of immigration rules. They were released ten days later but banned from leaving Libya. The Swiss media described them as hostages and Mr Goeldi sought refuge in the Swiss Embassy. In the past year Libya has imposed trade sanctions, stopped Swiss flights to Tripoli, withdrawn more than $5 billion from Swiss banks and cut the crude oil exports that provide half of Switzerland’s oil.

The new Swiss Ambassador was denied a visa. Sources said that Mr Goeldi was left almost alone in the embassy, with ABB employees bringing him food.

Last September Hannibal Gaddafi’s servants withdrew their complaint after agreeing a financial settlement but Swiss diplomatic efforts to placate Libya bore no fruit. In April Hannibal Gaddafi, his wife and the Libyan state filed a civil lawsuit against the Geneva authorities in a Geneva court.

Last Thursday, as al-Megrahi was returning from Scotland, President Merz of Switzerland flew to Tripoli and delivered an “official and public apology for the unjustified and unnecessary arrests”. He promised to have Hannibal Gaddafi’s arrest investigated by an arbitration panel. Libya promised to restore normal relations. Mr Goeldi and Mr Hamdani should soon be on their way home.

Libyan newspapers proclaimed a double triumph — and the humiliated Swiss Government was, as with Scotland’s, excoriated at home. “In this crisis Switzerland loses more than honour. The country has slowly taken stock of its powerlessness,” said the Swiss newspaper Le Temps.

Expats who have been finding it difficult to get their visas renewed hope that, with al-Megrahi’s release, the wheels of bureaucracy will turn more easily.

Now it is reported in the Times that how can I put this........lets say British and other Western expatriates living in Libya were warned in April that they faced serious repercussions if the Lockerbie bomber died in his Scottish prison.

“Word went out that there could be reprisals . . . . We were told not to go into the centre of Tripoli,” said one of the thousands of Westerners who are helping to develop Libya’s oil and gas fields. “Everybody went ‘eek!’. It’s so unpredictable here. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be something or it could be nothing.”

The expats were not told what the reprisals might be were Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to die in Scotland, but the story Max Goeldi may point a finger????.


So as reported the Libyans managed to cut up rough with the Swiss.
The Swiss cave in, but 60% of Swiss oil comes from Libya.
Mandleson meets "Mad Dog's" son in Corfu.
Scottish parliament release al-Megrahi.
Nothing to do with oil..............Scottish descision only.
Visa granted willy nilly for oil workers from now on.

G20 Meeting.................Bets on Gordon not going!

There is a G20 meeting in Pittsburgh next month.
Our Gordon would no doubt have been looking forward to not only a nice wee meal but perhaps a bit of praise for his hosting of the London G20.

However recent events have made me think otherwise.

What I do find particularly gaulling is the tight lipped not a sound blanking we are getting.

Lets be honest Brown did write to Gaddaffi and ask for a low key return of Al-Megrahi.............and of course we all know the results of that request.

This is a case of the silence is deafening.
Ok his spiritual mentour in Mandyis having some reconstructive surgery so perhaps Gordon coach is unavailable to assist.

Brown did write a letter to the ashes winning team on Sunday to give congratulations.
Maybe Sarah has damaged the remote and the TV is stuck on sports channels!!!!!

But when fellow Westminster bodies are using terms like “It is inexplicable and cowardly. The silence of the Prime Minister is unforgivable on an issue of such national importance.”

Others are warning about the continued silence on international relations with the United States in particular.


Now I blogged re "The Special Relationship earlier and its potential to have been a factor in the high death toll in Afghanistan. The special relationship has been on the wayne for a while now. I personally see no real reason to maintain it as the way it is described. we have paid all the WW2 monies back!!!

However 1 thing is for sure our credibility as a nation is now at its lowest, and our PM's credibility as a world statesman was always low but also is at its lowest.

Gordon, your No10 spokesman yesterday repeatedly refused to comment. Instead he simply said it was a matter for the Scottish Justice Secretary. No its not, not with the multiple reports of the Mandleson meeting with the Col's son in Corfu. Not with the multiple reports of the oil/gas and trade deals.

I suggest you stay at home gordon. You are going to get pelters if you go.
Playboy Prince Andrew just knocked his Libya trade mission on the head.
Mandy did all the work for him!!!
Suggest you do the same!!!

FBI Letter

I publish here in full the letter from the Director of the FBI to Kenny MacAskill.
Source The Times

Dear Mr Secretary

Over the years I have been a prosecutor, and recently as the Director of the FBI, I have made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors, since only the prosecutor handling the case has all the facts and the law before him in reaching the appropriate decision.

Your decision to release Megrahi causes me to abandon that practice in this case. I do so because I am familiar with the facts, and the law, having been the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991. And I do so because I am outraged at your decision, blithely defended on the grounds of “compassion”.

Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law. Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man’s exercise of “compassion”. Your action rewards a terrorist even though he never admitted to his role in this act of mass murder and even though neither he nor the government of Libya ever disclosed the names and roles of others who were responsible.

Your action makes a mockery of the emotions, passions and pathos of all those affected by the Lockerbie tragedy: the medical personnel who first faced the horror of 270 bodies strewn in the fields around Lockerbie, and in the town of Lockerbie itself; the hundreds of volunteers who walked the fields of Lockerbie to retrieve any piece of debris related to the break-up of the plane; the hundreds of FBI agents and Scottish police who undertook an unprecedented global investigation to identify those responsible; the prosecutors who worked for years - in some cases a full career - to see justice done.

But most importantly, your action makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988. You could not have spent much time with the families, certainly not as much time as others involved in the investigation and prosecution. You could not have visited the small wooden warehouse where the personal items of those who perished were gathered for identification - the single sneaker belonging to a teenager; the Syracuse sweatshirt never again to be worn by a college student returning home for the holidays; the toys in a suitcase of a businessman looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife and children.

You apparently made this decision without regard to the views of your partners in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the Lockerbie tragedy. Although the FBI and Scottish police, and prosecutors in both countries, worked exceptionally closely to hold those responsible accountable, you never once sought our opinion, preferring to keep your own counsel and hiding behind opaque references to “the need for compassion”.

You have given the family members of those who died continued grief and frustration. You have given those who sought to assure that the persons responsible would be held accountable the back of your hand. You have given Megrahi a “jubilant welcome” in Tripoli, according to the reporting. Where, I ask, is the justice?

Sincerely yours,

Robert S Mueller, III

Director


Well Mr Mueller,

A well timed letter.

Just what Mr Obama needs to get some of the right wing chaps in the USA back on his side. Lets blame everyone else. lets blame Scotland. Lets try to hide the fact that your popularity is falling very quickly with your health care plans etc. Need someone to carry the can and deflect a bit of blame from your own front door?

Maybe a small country..........but we are not thick.

And in the vein of "chucking a bit back".....hows about you answer these few points made by wardog before you go around slapping others and playing your "More Holy than Thou" card.

As well as the IRA bankroll do not forget these little gems.
Illegal killing of civilians in Iraq
Illegal killing of civilians in Afghanistan
Illegal killing of civilians in Belgrade
Illegal killing of civilians in Lybia
Illegal killing of civilians on Iran Flight 655 and then awarding medals FFS
Illegal killing of civilians of in Vietnam, Lt William Calley
Illgeal killing of civilians in Nagasaki & Hiroshima
International condemnation over Guantanmo Bay
International condemnation over Abu Graib Torture
International condemnation over Rendition Flights
International condemnation over Sanctioning Torture
International condemnation over Arms Deals to Terrorists
International condemnation over Iraq WMD lies
Barbaric use of Capital Punishment

Just thought they need brought up.

Bloody Hypocrite!!!!

Thank you

I have a a friend who reads this blog in the beautiful state of Iowa in the USA.
Yep you know who you are........and how is Casey today?

Ok just to say thank you for the words you said yesterday.
I will post this thank you too you.

I am well aware of Obama's comments this am.
I am well aware of the anti-Scottish blogs, websites, the boycott Scotland sentiment that is springing up.
I am also aware of the pathetic posts by certain right wing supposedly heavy weight political bloggers here in the UK who are doing it for political reasons to appease certain areas.

So thanks again..........glad some of you look with a bit of objectivity.

Right or wrong, innocent or guilty............this wee island had no chance.

Lockerbie............A cover up???

It is reported in the Scotsman today that the Lockerbie bomber has been sending his possessions home for the past six weeks, fuelling accusations that the decision to release him is a "done deal".
The revelation has increased pressure on justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, with opposition politicians criticising his "inept" handling of the case. With a decision now widely expected tomorrow from Mr MacAskill, he has been urged to give answers to the Scottish Parliament "quickly".

There is a huge amount in the MSM and the blogosphere about Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber who is serving his sentance right here in Scotland.

A quick trip about the web details the case the case files, or what we think we have and the conspiracy theorists as well.


Politicians, relatives and experts accused the Scottish government of striking a deal with the convicted terrorist: that in return for his repatriation he would abandon an appeal that might have exposed a grave miscarriage of justice. “It’s pretty likely there was a deal,” said Oliver Miles, a former British Ambassador to Libya, who told The Times that the British and Scottish governments had been very anxious to avoid the appeal.

Christine Grahame, a member of the Scottish Parliament, said: “There are a number of vested interests who have been deeply opposed to this appeal because they know it would go a considerable way towards exposing the truth behind Lockerbie.”

Robert Black, the Edinburgh law professor who was one of the architects of al-Megrahi’s trial before a special Scottish court in the Netherlands, said: “There would have been strong pressure from civil servants in the justice department and the Crown Office to bring this appeal to an end . . . I’m convinced they have never wanted it to go the full distance. Legitimate concerns about the events leading up to his conviction will not be heard.”

Al-Megrahi is suffering advanced prostate cancer and his anticipated release by Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, on compassionate grounds caused outrage, particularly among American relatives of the 270 Lockerbie victims.

Indeed Hilary Clinton has even been on the phone direct to Kenny Macaskill stating the apparent position of the "American People".......or does she mean the CIA.

The Libyan’s decision to drop his appeal gives Mr MacAskill the slightly less controversial option of transferring him to a Libyan jail under a prisoner transfer agreement that Britain and Libya finalised in April. Such transfers cannot take place until all legal proceedings have ended.

Either way the Obama Administration will be angered, and the victims’ relatives will be deprived of an appeal that they saw as their last chance, short of the independent public inquiry that they have long demanded, of finding out who really killed their sons, daughter, spouses and parents when Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie in December 1988.

They and other experts have long doubted the evidence used to convict al-Megrahi and asked how a single man could have carried out such a deadly attack. They have questioned whether Syria or Iran was really responsible. Some even suspect that the CIA tampered with the evidence.

Al-Megrahi lost his original appeal in 2002 but when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission awarded him another in 2007 it said that it had identified six grounds where it believed that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.

Al-Megrahi’s lawyers said he had dropped his appeal because his health had deteriorated sharply, though Scottish law would permit the appeal to continue even after his death.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, strenuously denied that any pressure had been put on him. “We have no interest in pressurising people to drop appeals. Why on earth should we? That’s not our position — never has been,” he said.

But the Scottish government faced a wave of scepticism. Mr Miles called al-Megrahi’s original trial “deeply flawed” and said that both Scottish and British governments wanted no appeal because it would be very embarrassing.

Ms Grahame, a backbench member of Mr Salmond’s Scottish Nationalist Party, had visited al-Megrahi in prison and said he was desperate to clear his name. She claimed to have seen a leaked e-mail from the Scottish justice department showing that senior officials were pressing him to drop his appeal.

Tam Dalyell, the former Labour MP who has long proclaimed al-Megrahi’s innocence, said: “If he abandons his appeal, it means that Lockerbie will be one of those mysteries like the assassination of President Kennedy that will remain unsolved for a long time — possibly forever.”

He added: “It would come as a mighty relief to officials at the Crown Office in Edinburgh, to certain officials in the stratosphere of Whitehall, and above all to officials in Washington.”

If the Edinburgh High Court approves al-Megrahi’s application to drop his appeal on Tuesday he is likely to fly home within another 24 hours — well before Ramadan starts on Friday.

Evidence that would have been tested

The witness Testimony given by Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper, who identified the Libyan as the man who bought clothing that was packed in the same suitcase as the bomb, was crucial to securing al-Megrahi’s conviction. Al-Megrahi’s defence team claimed Mr Gauci was not a credible witness. They maintained he was coached by police before giving his damning evidence, and believe that he was paid a $2 million (£1.2 million) reward by the US Government.

The forensic evidence Al-Megrahi’s defence team were also due to challenge evidence surrounding pieces of the timer that was said to have triggered the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103. Tests suggested a circuit board placed as close to the Semtex as the Malta device must have been could not have survived intact as it apparently did.

The missing suspect Abu Talb, an Egyptian-born terrorist serving life in Sweden, was arrested in connection with the bombing but never charged. He came under suspicion after Swedish investigators established that he had travelled to Malta in October 1988. In Talb's apartment in Uppsala, the police also found a 1988 calendar with the date “December 21” circled. Talb denied he was involved in the bombing and said his trip to Malta was for business.

The bomb-maker Edwin Bollier, a Swiss-based businessman, made the timing device that is said to have set off the bomb. He gave evidence that he had rented office space to al-Megrahi. During his testimony, it was revealed that the prosecution had been considering charging him with the same conspiracy to murder charge as the Libyans.


Scotland is a hugely compassionate country. The cancer this man suffers certainly without the political intervention and international furfore would have had the man back in Lybia many months ago.

However reading into this story some other forces are at work. Some dark ones as late last night some reports that even Mandleson has had his somewhat slimy hand involved as well.

The only person who can close this is al-Megrahi himself. his dropping of his appeal, his return to Lybia and his death for his illness will certainly now ensure that certain agencies breathe a sigh of relief whilst the families of the 270 remain in turmoil.