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(The Scotsman) – The Scottish Government insisted Kenny MacAskill had not yet made a decision on whether to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer.
But there is mounting speculation that Megrahi, who is serving a life term with a minimum of 27 years, could be released on compassionate grounds as early as next week, in time for the start of Ramadan.
Flight deck of Pan Am 103 in a Lockerbie field.
US families of victims have reacted angrily to the reports. And President Barack Obama’s administration added to the pressure by insisting Megrahi should never be freed.
Philip Crowley, of the US State Department, said: “We have made our views clear to the UK Government, to other authorities, that we believe that he should spend the rest of his time in jail.”
Handily, the investigation into the real perpetrators of the bombing will be halted: Megrahi to drop appeal case.
Read on for a bit more about the history of the Lockerbie bombing …
Pan Am Flight 103 crashed into the town of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988 killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. The following time line details the aftermath of the crash, including the investigation and the fight to bring the suspects to justice.
May 11, 1989 – CIA Confident Iran Behind Jet Bombing
Jibril and senior aides had at least one meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran last fall and possibly an earlier one immediately after the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian Airbus over the Persian Gulf last July 3, according to these sources.
“They’re fairly confident of their information,” said one U.S. official familar with the interagency deliberations over the bombing.
“But they apparently don’t have enough information to satisfy everybody inside the administration,” he added. “The FBI has to deal with evidence they can present in court.”
Great Britain and the US conveniently put blame on Libya and Gaddafi as they were involved in strikes and reprisal.
Libya responded with aggressive counter-maneuvers on March 24 that led to the destruction of Libyan radar systems and missile attack boats. Less than two weeks later on April 5, a bomb exploded in a West Berlin, Germany, disco, La Belle, killing two American servicemen and a Turkish woman and wounding 200 others. The United States claimed to have obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany involved in the attack.
The Attack
After several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, President Ronald Reagan ordered the strike on Libya on April 14. F-111 aircraft flying from 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath and 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, RAF Upper Heyford in England, along with A-6, A-7, and F/A-18 planes from the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Coral Sea, struck five targets at 02:00 on April 15, in the hope that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya’s ability to support and train terrorists.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
