Alleged Lockerbie Bomber Could Be Released

Scotland has final say over inmate's fate

(NEWSER) - Libya is pressing the Scottish government to OK a transfer that would allow a terminally ill Lockerbie conspirator to die at home, the BBC reports. The prisoner, who was convicted in 2001 for his role in the 1988 Pan Am bombing, would have to drop an appeal that's currently being heard if he hopes to be repatriated. The Scottish government has the final say, and victims' relatives are split over the issue. More»

It's been a year since controversial release

(NEWSER) - It's been a year since Scotland made the staggering decision to free the man convicted of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and 270 souls over Lockerbie, and the US has a little anniversary message: Put him back in jail. White House counterterror chief John Brennan told Scottish officials that "Megrahi should serve out the remainder—the entirety—of his sentence in a Scottish prison." More»

Victims' relatives unimpressed with content of new website

(NEWSER) - The Lockerbie bomber has launched a website that makes available documents from an appeal he mounted before being released for medical reasons, the Telegraph reports. Relatives of the passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 say Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's site contains nothing new: “It's a lobbying effort. It's almost as if he thinks that if he says it long enough it will become true," said the president of a group that represents victims' families. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama today brought his displeasure over the release of the Lockerbie bomber directly to Gordon Brown’s attention, the BBC reports. Obama did not specifically blame Brown, but relatives of those who died are outraged at the release, and the president has called it a “mistake.” The UK PM maintains the decision to spring Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was entirely up to the Scottish government. More»

(NEWSER) - Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said today that the release of the Lockerbie bomber "was my decision and my decision alone," reports the Times of London, but that Libya violated an agreement in greeting Abdelbaset al-Megrahi with a hero's welcome. “It is a matter of great regret that Mr. al-Megrahi was received in such an inappropriate manner,” he told Scottish parliament. "It showed no compassion or sensitivity to the families of the 270 victims of Lockerbie." More»