Lockerbie bomber granted leave to appeal

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has been granted leave to appeal against his conviction, it emerged tonight.

A spokesman for the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh said a date had been fixed for a preliminary hearing in October at Camp Zeist in Holland.

Al Megrahi was jailed for life in January this year for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1998.

A total of 270 people died when the plane was blown out of the sky.