New Lockerbie facts promised

THE man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing said “new facts” surrounding the 1988 attack that killed 270 people would be announced in the coming months.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi said his role had been “exaggerated” and the truth about what happened would emerge soon.

Megrahi had been serving a life sentence when he was released from prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds because he was suffering from terminal cancer.

He spoke to Reuters news agency from a bed at his home in Tripoli, Libya.

“The facts will become clear one day and hopefully in the near future,” he said. “In a few months from now, you will see new facts that will be announced.

“The West exaggerated my name. Please leave me alone. I only have a few more days, weeks or months.”

Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on December 21 1988, killing 270 in the air and on the ground. Megrahi was the only person convicted of the atrocity.