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Family: Lockerbie Bomber Has Died

Brother: Lockerbie Bomber Abdel Basset al Megrahi Has Died

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi died Sunday, nearly three years after his release from prison when he was said to be terminally ill. (AP)

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died Sunday nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack’s 270 victims. He was 60.

Scotland released al-Megrahi on Aug. 20, 2009, on compassionate grounds to let him return home to die after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the time, doctors predicted he had only three months to live.

Anger over the release was further stoked by the hero’s welcome he received on his arrival in Libya – and by subsequent allegations that London had sought his release to preserve business interests in the oil-rich North African nation, strongly denied by the British and Scottish governments.

After his release, he kept a strict silence, living in the family villa surrounded by high walls in a posh Tripoli neighborhood, mostly bedridden or taking a few steps with a cane. Libyan authorities sealed him off from public access. When the one-year anniversary of his release passed, some who visited him said al-Megrahi bitterly mused that the world was rooting for him to die.

His son, Khaled al-Megrahi, confirmed his death in a telephone interview but hung up before giving more details.

To the end, al-Megrahi insisted he had nothing to do with the bombing, which killed 270 people, most of them Americans.

“I am an innocent man,” al-Megrahi said in his last interview, published in several British papers in December. “I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family.”

The fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in August – and his death two months later – has so far done nothing to dispel the mysteries that surround the case even after al-Megrahi’s conviction. The U.S., Britain, and prosecutors in his trial contended that he did not act alone and carried out the bombing at the behest of Libyan intelligence. After Gadhafi’s fall, Britain asked Libya’s new rulers to help fully investigate but they put off any probe for the forseeable future.

They also rejected Western pressure to jail or return al-Megrahi.

“He is between life and death, so what difference would prison make?” his brother, Abdel-Nasser al-Megrahi, said at the time.

Little was known about al-Megrahi. At his trial, he was described as the “airport security” chief for Libyan intelligence, and witnesses reported him negotiating deals to buy equipment for Libya’s secret service and military.

But he became a central figure in both Libya’s falling out with the West and then its re-emergence from the cold.

To Libyans, he was a folk hero, an innocent scapegoat used by the West to turn their country into a pariah. The regime presented his handover to Scotland in 1999 as a necessary sacrifice to restore Libya’s relations with the world.

In the months ahead of his release, Tripoli put enormous pressure on Britain, warning that if the ailing al-Megrahi died in a Scottish prison, all British commercial activity in Libya would be cut off and a wave of demonstrations would erupt outside British embassies, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic memos. The Libyans even implied “that the welfare of U.K. diplomats and citizens in Libya would be at risk,” the memos say.

But in the eyes of many Americans and Europeans, he was the foot-soldier carrying out orders from Gadhafi’s regime. Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister at the time of the conviction, said the verdict “confirms our long-standing suspicion that Libya instigated the Lockerbie bombing.”

The bombing that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland was one of the deadliest terror attacks in modern history. The flight was heading to New York from London’s Heathrow airport and many of the victims were American college students flying home to for Christmas.

Gadhafi handed over al-Megrahi and a second suspect to Scottish authorities after years of punishing U.N. sanctions. Four years later, in 2003, Gadhafi acknowledged responsibility – though not guilt – for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation of about $2.7 billion to the Lockerbie victims’ families. He also pledged to dismantle all weapons of mass destruction and joined the U.S.-led war on terror.

The regime maintained it handed al-Megrahi over and paid compensation only to win the lifting of sanctions. The steps won Gadhafi quick rewards, with Western powers resuming diplomatic contacts and signing lucrative business deals.

In 2001, a Scottish court – set up in the neutral ground of a military base in the Netherlands – convicted al-Megrahi of planting the bomb but acquitted his co-defendant, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, a Libyan Arab Airlines official, of all charges. El-Megrahi ended up serving eight years of a life sentence.

The prosecution’s case was built around a tiny fragment of circuit board discovered among the airline wreckage that investigators determined was part of the timer of the bomb, hidden in a suitcase. Investigators said the suitcase was loaded onto a flight from Malta, booked through to Pan Am 103 via Frankfurt.

An executive from a Swiss company testified that he had sold timers of the same make to Libya. Investigators found that al-Megrahi traveled to Malta on a false passport a day before the suitcase was checked in and left the following day.

Key to convicting al-Megrahi was the testimony of a Malta shopkeeper who identified him as having bought a man’s shirt in his store. Scraps of the garment were found wrapped around the timing device.

However, a Scottish judicial body that carried out a major review of the evidence cast doubt on the shopowner’s ID of al-Megrahi and said there was evidence the shirt was purchased on a day when al-Megrahi was not in Malta.

Al-Megrahi’s lawyers also claimed that British and U.S. authorities tampered with evidence, disregarded witness statements and steered investigators away from suggestions the bombing was an Iranian-financed plot carried out by Palestinians to avenge the shooting down of a civilian Iranian airliner by a U.S. warship – in which some 290 people were killed – several months before the Lockerbie bombing. The judicial body, however, discounted theories of intentional misdirection.

Al-Megrahi had appealed his conviction, but had to drop the appeal to be eligible for compassionate release.

“I say in the clearest possible terms, which I hope every person in every land will hear – all of this I have had to endure for something that I did not do,” al-Megrahi said in a statement after his release.

“I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out – until my diagnosis of cancer,” he said. “To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this, they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered.”

Some of the victims’ families in Britain are also not convinced of al-Megrahi’s guilt.

“By abandoning his appeal, we the families will be robbed of the opportunity to find justice,” the Rev. John Mosey, whose daughter Helga died aboard Flight 103, said in 2009.

“I came away from the court 85 percent convinced he did not do it, based on the evidence I heard,” said Mosey, who is from Cumbria, England, and attended all but one week of al-Megrahi’s nine-month trial.

In announcing al-Megrahi’s release from prison, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he was motivated by Scottish values to show mercy even though al-Megrahi had not shown compassion to his victims.

“Some hurts can never heal, some scars can never fade,” MacAskill said. “Mr. al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power.”

Al-Megrahi is survived by his wife, Aisha, and five children.

This post has been updated.

Comments (148)

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  • sbenard
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:36am

    It couldn’t have happened to a nicer terrorist!

    I wonder what will happen when confronted at the bar of Justice on the other side by those innocent people whose lives he took! It won’t pretty for him. His judgment will be swift and sure! He had better get used to the heat, because that‘s where he’s going!

    Report Post » sbenard  
    • db321
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 10:23am

      I have added him to my list – I would love to be a fly on the wall at his Judgement day – anyone want to bet that God will have the last say.

      Report Post » db321  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 10:40am

      Did you guys happen to read the article? Did you happen to notice the look on this guy’s face? He may not have been guilty at all..Looks like he may have been set up..It could happen to any one of us..Notice how Khadaffi had been working with the US? Notice how we helped the Muslim Brotherhood take him down? Everyone including me has been worried about the influx of Muslims into our country…and Muslim Brotherhood being infiltrated into our government…Not to worry..The golden rule according to Satan..He who has all the gold makes all the rules..The Federal Reserve Rothchild’s..Rockefellers etc have all the gold except for the Vatican..who do you think makes the rules? I stumbled upon a coversation and this is the part that struck me.”Consider the Arab traitors who attacked their fellows in Libya, and are doing so in Syria. Consider the extreme arrogance of GCC Arab sheikhs. Consider Hamas, which turned against both Qaddafi and Assad (long the two biggest supporters of Palestinians) in order to ally themselves with the GCC Arabs on one side, and the Muslim Brotherhood on the other. The Americans and the Zionists work with different factions of Muslims..The Vatican created Islam http://www.remnantofgod.org/books/docs/How-the-Vatican-Created-Islam.pdf Look who runs our country. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcSM4dNMCPk
      Zionists are not the true Orthodox Jews http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/zionism/history.cfm
      Don’t worry..be happy

       
    • yougottabekidding
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 11:06am

      Anybody have any cookies to give out?

      Report Post »  
    • HumbleMan
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 11:34am

      @ASHES … His expression resembles the one O.J. had.

      Seriously, I would not want this man’s karma.

      Report Post » HumbleMan  
    • HKS
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 12:05pm

      He has died as far as you know.

      Report Post » HKS  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 12:24pm

      @HUMBLE MAN..I stand on the grace of Jesus Christ..I cannot judge this man..he claimed innocence and for all I know..he is. Jesus said..I came not to judge the world..but to save it.My word judges you..Anyone not having accepted Jesus/Yeshua as Lord and Saviour and who has not that personal relationship with Him..well let’s just say that I have given my life over to Him..and sometimes it takes us awhile to let Christ be formed in us..I used to judge..I used to give Rose Ellen hell..and my pastor was on to me about it..I have since transformed..but not having realized that..my former pastor judged me for it and He is no longer my pastor..but I had learned my lesson. Jesus said to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us..”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Eph 6:12

      Report Post »  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 1:15pm

      I was on the same leg of that flight on 18 Dec 1988 just three days before the plane was taken down. Something that I can never forget. What really concerns me now is with Magrahi and Ghadafi both dead and the nation of Libya handed over to the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood. We will now most likely never know all of the details nor all of the culprits involved. It was just not Magrahi alone, and most likely he had no actual hands on experience with the act itself.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
    • paperpushermj
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 1:31pm

      Sincerely hoping he is now experiencing unbearable internal anguish

      Report Post » paperpushermj  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 3:48pm

      @RJ Not to worry about them having been handed over to the Muslim Brotherhood..haven’t you heard? So have we..but the Zionists are the ones who are in control..They are controlling the world..The Zionists are not the Torah observant Jews..the Zionists are for the most part atheists calling themselves Jews..The real Orthodox Jews see them as heretics never studying the torah stirring up trouble where ever they were..In Germany..Hitler was a Zionist..and many of the Jew/Zionists helped in God‘s torah observant Jew’s demise.. Anyone can move to Israel and call themselves a Jew..but the real Jew becomes a Jew by being prostyletised..converting to the religion of the Orthodox Judaism..not the Talmud..The Rothchilds are Zionists..I bet you don’t see them in any Torah studies They are their own gods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcSM4dNMCPk

      Report Post »  
    • Auntie izlam
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 6:06pm

      @ “Ashes to Ashes” you sound like a brainwashed ,brain dead bot.

      Report Post »  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 7:13pm

      @AUNTIE ISLAM No Auntie..I have done my research and kept my eyes open..I started really taking note of it when I heard that Israel had made it a law to say the word Communism or Fascism..then I saw an Israeli blogger post that he wished that they could vote for freedom in Israel..and wished us luck for what was an impossibility for them..the law of the land in Israel is very different from what you believe..it is us Americans who have fallen victim to the propaganda machine.
      There are none so blind as those who will not see..gives new meaning to the anti-Christ
      http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/israel.htm

      Report Post »  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 7:54pm

      @AUNTIE ISLAM..Correction..I left something out..they made it against the law to mention the word Communism or Fascism

      Report Post »  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 7:59pm

      2nd try..I meant to say that Israel had made it “against” the law to say Communism or fascism

      Report Post »  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:10pm

      Okay..let’s try again…in regards to Israel making it illegal to say Communism or Fascism..here is the scoop..they have proposed a bill to make it illegal to draw Nazi comparisons..reported by our very own Billy Hollowell at the Blaze..Thank you Billy.
      http://www.theblaze.com/stories/israeli-bill-would-outlaw-comparisons-to-nazis/

      Report Post »  
    • AZRACISTBIGOT
      Posted on May 21, 2012 at 11:46am

      Wrap him in pig skin and bury him facing hell

      Report Post »  
    • Secret Squirrel
      Posted on May 21, 2012 at 12:43pm

      .
      Enjoy Hell.

      Report Post » Secret Squirrel  
  • getourcountryback
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:34am

    It is about time. Glad to hear this.

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 11:09am

      I agree .. finally some good news .. one less terrorist is always good.

      Report Post »  
  • consrv
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:31am

    Good riddance.

    Report Post »  
    • poorrichard09
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:43am

      @pettydrama: he had the same choice in this life as everyone has-to do good or to do evil. He chose evil and now will be rewarded according to his works.

      Report Post »  
    • ambrosia
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 10:00am

      Hell just got a bit more crowded.

      Report Post »  
  • PETTYDRAMA
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:28am

    I see a lot of so called “christians” on here making a lot of hypocritical non-christian comments.

    Report Post » PETTYDRAMA  
    • hatchetjob
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:44am

      Christians aren’t perfect, only Jesus was/is perfect. Christians are saved by Grace, and never professed to be perfect.

      Report Post » hatchetjob  
    • Neils60
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 12:34pm

      How do you know the religious preferences of those who comment on this blog?

      Report Post »  
    • Taquoshi
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 1:45pm

      No, Petty, actually what you see are a bunch of screen names with comments attached. You have no idea whether or not the person behind the screen name actually means what they say, or is putting it up there to get a reaction. You have no idea whether the person behind the screen name is Muslim, atheist, or Christian. You only know what the comment is, not the reason or motivation behind it.

      Report Post » Taquoshi  
  • PETTYDRAMA
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:26am

    Its about time. One less religious nut job in the world.

    Report Post » PETTYDRAMA  
  • Meyvn
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:19am

    Welcome to the Land of Fire, Brimstone, and Virgins.

    Report Post » Meyvn  
    • hypnos
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:35am

      Too bad is 72 virgins look pelosi.sucks to be him

      Report Post » hypnos  
  • Mojoron
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:15am

    May the dung of a thousand camel’s be upon him.

    Report Post » Mojoron  
    • lukerw
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 10:18am

      May his Virgins in Paradise look & act like Camels!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Taquoshi
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 1:48pm

      Along with the fleas that flock to to dung also.

      Report Post » Taquoshi  
    • Rayblue
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 2:00pm

      May his beard be plucked out one flea infested hair at a time.

      Report Post » Rayblue  
  • Bob_R_OathKeeper
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:11am

    Pi$$ be upon him.

    Report Post » Bob_R_OathKeeper  
  • spfoam1
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:11am

    A more fitting death for him would have been falling from 30,000 feet, strapped in a chair, on fire.

    Report Post »  
  • the58thstate
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:11am

    i hope his virgins are related to john holmes.

    Report Post »  
  • Vegascelt
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:09am

    Hopefully he has already met his 72 (Male) virgins.

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 10:36am

      Imagine the look on his face when he realizes that his false Messiah Mohammed is not there waiting on him because Mohammed is still in his grave.

      Report Post » db321  
  • Tusker00
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:06am

    Good, now I hope he is getting his eternal rectal examination from Satan and his 12 inch long barbed finger…..or from another long Satan body part!

    Report Post »  
  • skippy6
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:06am

    Still think he should have not been allowed to walk this earth for so long……

    Report Post » skippy6  
  • wboehmer
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:05am

    Another murderous muslim explaining his behavior before the Almighty. I hear he has Gaddafi lined up as a character witness.

    Report Post »  
  • BrerRabbit
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:04am

    Hell has a new tenant. 8>)

    Report Post »  
  • Dodsfall
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:56am

    By all rights, he should have died in prison.

    His victims didn’t have the luxury of dying at home.

    Report Post » Dodsfall  
    • Countrygirl1362
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:08am

      I agree with that 100%. He should have never been released, he showed no compassion, why should he have had any.

      Report Post »  
  • LIRight
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:53am

    One word: GOOD!

    Report Post » LIRight  
  • piper60
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:51am

    Finally! This murderer will face true, non-pc justice.

    Report Post » piper60  
  • sawbuck
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:48am

    I know ..“Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord” ..
    And we can rest knowing his final reward is at hand…But
    Death by firing-squad…Would have had a nicer ring to it.

    Report Post » sawbuck  
  • lukerw
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:41am

    Real Justice eludes us… on Earth!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • Want our country back
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:39am

    I want to say GOOD… but then again we should feel sorry for such a miserable soul and hope that he finds peace in the hereafter. It’s hard to believe any of these people..

    Report Post » Want our country back  
    • sawbuck
      Posted on May 20, 2012 at 9:00am

      @Want our country back..
      Can you see this guy making a death bed conversion from Islam to Christianity… ?
      I can’t….I can not see anything “peaceful” about this guys “Eternal Destination”….
      Bobbing up and down in a “Lake of fire” ..Sounds like torment to me.

      Report Post » sawbuck  
  • sooner12
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:39am

    Now he has to face God for his atrocious acts.

    Report Post »  
  • Magyar
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:37am

    I have a difficult time extending any condolences to his family!

    Report Post »  
  • dissentnow
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:35am

    It’s about time. Longest death bed EVER!

    Report Post »  
  • TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
    Posted on May 20, 2012 at 8:35am

    ALLAH SNACKBAR!! And Good riddance!

    Report Post » TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12  
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