Lockerbie bomber could be released in a week

THE Lockerbie bomber could be freed from jail on bail in a week, it emerged last night.

Arguments over the application will be heard at court in Edinburgh on November 6.

It emerged last week that the former Libyan intelligence agent, 56, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and the disease has spread to other parts of his body.

Al Megrahi is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 which led to the deaths of 270 people.

He was taken from his prison cell in HMP Greenock under tight security to undergo tests at Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock last month.

Al Megrahi was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 2001.

He lost an appeal in 2002, but was given a fresh chance to clear his name in June last year when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred his case back to appeal judges for a second time. His appeal is due to be heard next year.

The Crown Office would not comment on next week’s hearing.

After news of Al Megrahi’s illness emerged, there were calls from politicians and the father of one of the Lockerbie victims for Scottish authorities to ensure Al Megrahi’s appeal was heard as soon as possible.

His solicitor, Tony Kelly, said at the time that his client’s fight to overturn his “wrongful conviction” would go on.

The Libyan won a legal victory earlier this month in the latest stage of his bid to overturn his conviction.

Judges ruled that his appeal could have a wide-ranging focus, looking beyond the issues raised by the SCCRC when it suggested he might have suffered a miscarriage of justice. The Pan Am 103 flight atrocity killed all 259 passengers on board as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie.