Scotland’s high court has agreed that a Libyan can drop his appeal against conviction for the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie in 1988, a move that could speed his return home.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, 57, was convicted in 2001 of plotting the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. He was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.
Lord Arthur Hamilton, Scotland’s most senior judge, said he had accepted Megrahi’s request to withdraw his long-standing appeal, but said there were other legal hurdles to be negotiated before the appeal process could be completely closed.
The court is expected to meet again in three weeks’ time to finalise the process, which depends on Scotland’s judicial authorities dropping their own appeal against Megrahi’s original sentence, which they saw as too lenient.
The former Libyan intelligence agent is now suffering from terminal prostate cancer and has made a request to be released on compassionate grounds in order to allow him to return to Libya and see his family before he dies.
At the same time, Britain and Libya have signed a prisoner transfer agreement that could allow Megrahi to be sent back to Libya to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
People with pending legal appeals cannot be transferred to another country under British law.
Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill was expected to meet Cabinet colleagues in Aberdeen yesterday. A potential compassionate parole for the Libyan is reportedly on the agenda.
A judicial review of al-Megrahi’s case two years ago raised serious questions about the evidence used to convict him, spurring his appeal.
The BBC and Sky News reported last week that MacAskill likely would free al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in time for Ramadan, which begins on Saturday.
That would allow him to fly back to Libya a free man.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has specifically asked MacAskill to ensure that al-Megrahi stays in prison. At the same time Libya has warned of serious economic fallout if he is not released.
The Times, citing unnamed senior sources, however, said on Monday that the Scottish government appeared to have buckled under pressure from Washington and abandoned plans to release him this week.
The issue sparked a political row as Scottish opposition parties slammed the government’s handling of the matter and called for parliament to be recalled to debate the case.
But officials told the Guardian newspaper yesterday that MacAskill would make his decision “sooner rather than later,” and was making it his “clear priority over the next few days.”
Relatives of those who died are split on whether Megrahi should be set free.
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