American politicians demand re-jailing of Lockerbie bombing

A group of American politicians is demanding the Lockerbie bomber is returned to jail and has branded the process which led to his release as "incredibly flawed".

Tue, 21 Dec, 2010 - 18:50

A group of US senators today demanded the Lockerbie bomber be returned to jail as they branded the process which led to his release “incredibly flawed”.

The American politicians claimed the freeing of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi on compassionate grounds was based on an “inaccurate prognosis” that the Libyan, who has prostate cancer, had just three months to live.

They said the UK Government played a “direct, critical role” in the decision to free him in August last year, stating that “evidence suggests that UK officials pressured Scotland to facilitate Al Megrahi’s release”.

And they said the SNP administration at Holyrood may also have been influenced by the “opportunity to act independently on the world stage” when Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill decided to grant Megrahi his freedom.

The four senators – Robert Menendez, Frank Lautenberg, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand – investigated the Libyan’s release.

The majority of the 270 people who lost their lives when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on December 21 1988 were Americans.

Megrahi, who remains the only man ever convicted of the bombing, remains alive in Tripoli 16 months after being released from jail on compassionate grounds.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the senators’ report was a “false interpretation” of events.

He stressed that “due process” had been followed in every aspect of the Megrahi case.

The spokesman said: “This is not an official report of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – it is an incorrect and inaccurate rehash by four senators of material that has been in the public domain for many months, and we entirely reject their false interpretation.”

The senators’ report – Justice Undone, The Release Of The Lockerbie Bomber - was published on the 22nd anniversary of the atrocity.