The only man found guilty in the 1988 airplane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, is dropping his appeal, his lawyers said on Friday — removing an obstacle to his possible transfer to Libya but disappointing activists who believe he is innocent.
Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi’s lawyer, Tony Kelly, said his client, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, filed papers to drop his appeal because his health had deteriorated.
“His condition has taken a significant turn for the worse in recent weeks,” the lawyer said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
British broadcasters reported this week, without citing sources, that al-Megrahi had been given just months to live and would be released early from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
The former Libyan secret service agent was convicted for the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103, which killed 270 people — most of them Americans. It was the deadliest terrorist attack ever committed in Britain.
The US has firmly objected to reports that al-Megrahi might be released.
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Friday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had called Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill in the past day and “expressed strongly” the US view that “al-Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in Scotland for his part in the bombing of the Pan Am 103 flight.”
Crowley said that US Attorney General Eric Holder had also called MacAskill.
The US Justice Department later said the call happened last month.
“Our interest is justice, and our interest is the commitment that we made to the families” of the victims, Crowley said.
“He was brought to trial. He had a fair trial. He was convicted,” he said.
“He’s serving his time. And we think he should stay in jail,” he added.
The Scottish government said it has yet to decide on his request for early release. They are also considering allowing al-Megrahi to serve the rest of his sentence in Libya.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS