Lockerbie Bomber, al-Megrahi, Dies at 60

Abdel Basset al-Megrah

The Libyan man convicted of bringing down a PanAm airliner over Lockerbie in 1988, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, died of cancer Sunday at the age of 60, leaving many issues on the attack and its aftermath unanswered.

Al-Megrahi's brother, Mohammed, told Reuters that he had died at his home in the Libyan capital from complications from prostate cancer. "He was too sick to utter anything on his deathbed," another brother, Abdulhakim, said outside Megrahi's house.

Family members of those who died in the flight also expressed no pity for the man who suffered from terminal cancer for a long time before breathing his last.

Al-Megrahi, who said he was not responsible for bringing the jumbo jet down on the Scottish town and killing 270 people, was found guilty in 2001 but released in 2009 and returned to Libya because of his terminal cancer as he was not expected to live long.

That decision by officials in Scotland angered relatives of many victims, 189 of whom were Americans, and was criticised by Washington as al-Megrahi returned to a hero's welcome from late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

That he survived for nearly three more years, outliving Gaddafi himself, who was overthrown last year, caused discomfort in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting the United States yesterday said Megrahi should never have been freed.

“Just because Abdul Basset is dead doesn't mean the past is now erased,” he said. “We will always tell the world that my brother was innocent” Megrahi's brother, Mohammed added.

Al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the bombing, was found guilty under Scots law of secretly loading a suitcase bomb onto a plane at Malta's Luqa Airport, where he was head of operations for Libyan Arab Airlines in December 1988.

The suitcase was transferred at Frankfurt to another flight and then onto New York-bound PanAm Flight 103 at London's Heathrow airport, concluded Scottish judges sitting at a converted Dutch military base selected as a neutral trial venue.

All 259 people aboard the aircraft were killed when it exploded and 11 people in the small town of Lockerbie died when homes and vehicles were obliterated by falling debris.

Al-Megrahi, handed over by Gaddafi under a UN-brokered deal, always insisted that he was merely an airline executive, not a Libyan intelligence agent as prosecutors charged.

His trial was part of a process of rapprochement by which Gaddafi distanced himself from association with groups regarded as terrorists in the West and secured renewed cooperation with Western firms keen to exploit Libya's oil and gas reserves.

Reaction to al-Megrahi's death reflected the controversies that have raged for years over his role. Many people in Britain have been saying that they believe he was a scapegoat, while many in the US have accused Britain of releasing him to help secure oil deals in Gaddafi's Libya. Britain has denied the charge.
US Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who wanted the Libyan government that took over after Gaddafi's ouster and killing by rebels to take al-Megrahi into custody, said his return to Libya was a major injustice.

“The whole deal smelled of a deal for oil for this man's freedom and that was almost blasphemy given what a horrible person he was and the terrible destruction and tragedy that he caused,” Schumer told CNN. “I don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of it now,” he added.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in opposition when al-Megrahi was freed, said in Chicago: “I've always been clear he should never have been released from prison.”

“Today is a day to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act.  Our thoughts should be with them and their families for the suffering they've had,” he added.

Jim Swire, the father of one of the British Lockerbie victims, said he was convinced al-Megrahi was innocent. “I've been satisfied for some years that this man had nothing to do with the murder of my daughter and I grit my teeth every time I hear newscasters say 'Lockerbie bomber has died’,” he told BBC News television