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Scotland Defies US, Releases Lockerbie Bomber

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 20, 2009 7:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – The only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, has been released on compassionate grounds and will return to Libya, reports the BBC. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was sentenced to life for the murder of 270 people, but he is suffering from prostate cancer and is said to have only months to live. The Scottish regional government's decision to free Megrahi comes despite opposition from Hillary Clinton and seven US senators.

Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, was freed on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya.
Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, was freed on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya.   (AP Photo/Martin Cleaver)
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, seen here in 2002, was granted compassionate release from prison today.
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, seen here in 2002, was granted compassionate release from prison today.   (AP Photo/Via APTN)
Police and investigators look at what remains of the flight deck of Pan Am 103 on a field in Lockerbie, Scotland, in this Dec. 22, 1988 file photo.
Police and investigators look at what remains of the flight deck of Pan Am 103 on a field in Lockerbie, Scotland, in this Dec. 22, 1988 file photo.   (AP Photo/File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 11 comments
2-bits
Aug 20, 2009 7:25 AM CDT
What happened to respecting a nations sovereignty? What gives us the right to overturn their decision in such a violent manner?
Newser001
Aug 20, 2009 5:43 AM CDT
There's been wide speculation, Megrahi isn't the guy. There's ties to Iranian's and others... I just don't know what to think or say or do... He has an estimated 3 months to live - He's no threat nor hero to anyone... I feel for the survivors, the families left behind. Megrahi maybe a political pawn for all we know - That's why I believe the Scott's released him. On another thought - Vengeance is a crude means of righting the wrong - An act of kindness is thought provoking and perhaps life changing. It was not my decision to make, but I'm sure the Scott's had one (or more). I visited Lockerbie and payed my condolences weeks after 9/11.
vissequ
Aug 20, 2009 5:12 AM CDT
Me neither. He should be dead.

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