Megrahi was welcomed by well-wishers on his arrival in Tripoli The Libyan man jailed in Scotland for blowing up a US airliner over Lockerbie in 1988, has arrived back in Libya after being set free. The Scottish government released Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who is 57 and has terminal cancer, on compassionate grounds. US President Barack Obama said the move was "a mistake", and some relatives of US victims reacted angrily. Most of the 270 people who died in the bombing were Americans. In a radio interview, Mr Obama said: "We have been in contact with the Scottish government, indicating that we objected to this. We thought it was a mistake." ***********0000ff]'A convenient scapegoat?'[/COLOR] ***********0000ff]Bomber release: What now?[/COLOR] ***********0000ff]Grounds for compassionate release[/COLOR] ***********0000ff]'No prospect of recovery'[/COLOR] He added that his administration had told the Libyan government that Megrahi should not receive a hero's welcome and should be placed under house arrest. The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that although the Libyan authorities have so far not commented on the release, they will regard it as a triumph. On Thursday police took Megrahi from Scotland's Greenock Prison to Glasgow Airport to board a private jet owned by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Hundreds of people waved Libyan flags as the plane landed at Tripoli airport at 1830 GMT. Within minutes Megrahi was whisked away to meet Col Gaddafi, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from the scene. Compassion The Scottish government said it had consulted widely before Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made his decision on applications for Megrahi's compassionate release or his transfer to a Libyan jail. Mr MacAskill told a news conference that he had rejected the application for a prisoner transfer. However, after taking medical advice it was expected that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of the time Megrahi had left to live. ANALYSIS Christian Fraser, BBC News, Tripoli Well before the Scottish justice minister had announced his decision, Col Muammar Gaddafi's private jet was on its way to Glasgow. Until now, Libyan officials have been careful not to comment in case they jeopardised the release, wary of this last-minute intervention by the US. Officially there are unlikely to be any triumphant statements here, but given the personal involvement of Mr Gaddafi it will no doubt be seen as further evidence of his growing stature on the international stage. It is rumoured that he has asked to see Megrahi when he returns, and the timing is perfect. In 12 days' time, Libya celebrates the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought Mr Gaddafi to power. "Mr al-Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days," he said. "But that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days." Mr MacAskill continued: "Our justice system demands that judgement be imposed, but compassion be available. "For these reasons and these reasons alone, it is my decision that Mr Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and be allowed to return to Libya to die." In a statement released after his departure from HMP Greenock, Megrahi continued to protest his innocence. He said: "The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. "I have been faced with an appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted. "The choice which I made is a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never overcome." 'No remorse' The families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing reacted angrily to the news. ***********0000ff]Have Your Say[/COLOR] ***********0000ff]I am ashamed to be Scottish today. Where is the justice for the victims?[/COLOR] Ross MacDonald, Edinburgh ***********0000ff]Send us your comment[/COLOR] Kara Weipz, of Mt Laurel, New Jersey, who lost her brother Richard Monetti, said: "It is an utter insult and utterly disgusting... I don't show compassion for someone who showed no remorse." New York state resident Paul Halsch, whose 31-year-old wife was killed, said of Mr MacAskill's decision: "This might sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way my wife Lorraine was and that would be in a box." However, British relatives' spokesman Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the atrocity, reiterated his view that Megrahi had "nothing to do with" the bombing. "I don't believe for a moment that this man was involved in the way that he was found to have been involved," he said. Megrahi was convicted of murder in January 2001 at a trial held under Scottish law in the Netherlands
What a horrible, horrible decision by SNP. Ridiculous. This makes me a little embarrassed to be Scottish right now. A man was convicted of murdering 270 people, has shown them no compassion and yet we're letting him go home in a private jet to die in the comfort of his own home, it's a joke. Those 270 men, women and children certainly weren't allowed to die in the comfort of their own homes. I seriously don't get it. Obviously it's political but still, every other Scottish party leader - and basically every other Western world party leader - has condemned releasing this man. It makes little sense. Where do we draw the line then, should all killers and terrorists be allowed to go home when they're feeling under the weather? Urgh.
The bastard should rot in jail. Yet the West again showed it's weak knee to the world. I'm willing to bet if Bin Laden is ever caught we will be having the same kind of people in this country wanting to show compassion not to put the son of a bitch to death. We even see this compassion bull shit being played out daily in this country with the lowlife trash committing the crimes on our streets everyday. We have to show compassion to the bastards because they either were poor or had a bad upbringing. Compassion my ass. Where is the outrage. You notice how little play this is getting in the Orwellian media.
I don't think this man should have been released from prison. He had a hand in killing 270 people in a terrorist act. I don't give a damn about being "compassionate." It is compassion enough that Scotland didn't deal with his ass like China would have, with a bullet to the head. That said, I don't think the US government should stick its nose in the case. The crime happened in Scotland, and it was tried under Scottish law.
Where was the outrage before he got out of prison? All of the bellyaching n byching will not get him back to lockdown.
The FBI in April 1989 leaked news that the PFLP-GC (PFLP-CC stands for The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (?????? ??????? ?????? ?????? - ??????? ??????) is a Palestiniannationalist and Marxist organization, backed by Syria and Iran) had smuggled the bomb onto flight in Frankfurt. The Washington Post on May 11, 1989, reported that the US State Department had stated that the CIA was “confident” that the PFLP-GC had carried out the attack on behalf of the Iranian government. The attack was said to be in retaliation for the 290 pilgrims massacred while returning from Mecca when a US warship blew an Iranian passenger jet out of the sky as it passed over the Persian Gulf. On December 16, 1989, the New York Times reported that Scottish investigators had announced that they had “hard evidence” that the PFLP-GC was behind the bombing. In October 1990, US and British authorities suddenly did a backflip as the US build-up in the Gulf was gathering pace following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Investigators attention suddenly shifted from the Syria-backed PFLP-GC to Libya. In 1991, the two Libyans were formally indicted. What changed between 1988 and 1991? Syrian dictator Hafiz Assad was an enthusiastic participant in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, whereas Libya's leader Moammer Qadhafi opposed the war and campaigned for a peaceful settlement. Read the full report http://links.org.au/node/406
I don't think somebody convicted of any murder especially mass murder should be let out of prison early on compassionate grounds. That said the so called evidence that convicted this guy was insufficient and its obvious to anyone who studies the case notes this guy was innocent. Maruti Mans' link above shows that the intelligence agencies suspected an Iranian hired, Syrian backed, Palestinian group did it as revenge for the downing by the US of an innocent Iranian passenger airliner that America refused to apologise or compensate for. This was until 1991 when the Gulf War made it expedient to turn suspicion away from Syria and onto Libya. Even some of the British families of the victims agree that this man was not guilty, Even if he was guilty there is no way he could have done it alone, this was a well planned conspiracy, so why was there no outcry to find the other terrorists responsible? This was not a one man job. So I feel the Scots came to the right decision for the wrong reason letting this guy go early.
I remembered that and wondered why Libya was blamed when it was really Syria's? That is sad indeed since the families of those killed didn't sue Iran and Syria for compensation of this terrorist act.
