The Libyan government has formally asked Scotland for the compassionate release of the former Libyan agent imprisoned for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, the Scottish government said on Saturday.
Libyan authorities made the application on behalf of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was sentenced to life for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
All 259 people on board the London to New York flight were killed, including 189 Americans, along with 11 people on the ground.
“We can confirm an application for compassionate release has been made by Mr al-Megrahi, and forwarded by the Libyan Government to the Scottish ministers,” a Scottish government spokeswoman said in a statement.”
“Scottish ministers will not comment on the content of the application and will now seek advice on the application,” she said.
Libya has repeatedly brought up the fate of the 57-year-old Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, most recently at a meeting in Italy between Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier this month.
But the British government has said it is a matter for Scotland, which has a separate legal system from the rest of Britain.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will now consider whether the application should be granted.
If it is, Megrahi would not be required to drop his appeal against his conviction.
Earlier this month, the Scottish Appeal Court said his hearing would not be concluded until next year, raising concern that Megrahi will die before the appeal is settled.
Megrahi, convicted in 2001 in a special Scottish court meeting in the Netherlands, is in Greenock prison in Scotland.
Some relatives of those killed in the bombing support the move to allow him to go home, since they have never been convinced of the Libyan’s guilt.
In May, Tripoli made an application to the Scottish government on Megrahi’s behalf for him to return to his homeland as part of a Prisoner Transfer Agreement. A decision is likely to take up to 90 days.
Megrahi has previously been denied bail to go home, requested on humanitarian grounds.
Four years after Megrahi’s conviction, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing and agreed to pay about US$2.7 billion in compensation to the victims’ families — a move that helped clear the way for the lifting of sanctions and the restoration of Libya’s ties with Western states.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source