Pan Am Flight 103

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Families of Lockerbie bombing victims receive compensation from Libya

The families of the US victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing say they have received full compensation from the Libyan government.At a news conference at the US Congress yesterday, the families declared victory in their quest for justice in the case."Until today, Libyan officials claimed it had long fulfilled justice to the families," said Kara Weipz, of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group. Her brother had been a passenger on the plane. "For many years, we were the forgotten victims of terrorism. Today is historic because Libya has finally fulfilled 100% justice to the Pan Am 103 families."She said the compensation was "in no way a replacement for seeing justice served to the terrorists in a court of law, but as a foreign government was responsible, there was no other avenue to hold Libyan officials accountable."We are free now to close this chapter in our nightmare," said Weipz.Under the agreement worked out between US and Libyan officials in August, Libya agreed to hand over $1.5bn (£1bn). The sum completes compensation payments to the US families of the Lockerbie victims and the families of those killed and wounded in a 1986 attack on a Berlin disco.The agreement also called for $300m in compensation to be paid for the Libyan victims of US airstrikes that were ordered by the former US president Ronald Reagan in retaliation for the Berlin bombing. The Bush administration says no US government money will be used for those payments but has not discussed the source of the money.The Lockerbie bombing in December 1988 killed all 269 on board the flight, including the plane's crew, 180 Americans and 11 people on the ground.Libya's once fraught relations with western countries have improved since 2003, when its leader Muammar Gaddafy renounced terrorism.Earlier this month Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan jailed for life over the Lockerbie bombing who has late-stage cancer, was refused bail in a Scottish appeal court.Lockerbie plane bombingLibyaUnited StatesScotlandGlobal terrorismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

American Lockerbie families receive final compensation from Libya

The families of 180 Americans onboard Pan Am Flight 103 the exploded over Lockerbie in Scotland say they have now received full compensation from Libya for their loss nearly two decades after the bombing.

No early release for dying Lockerbie bomber

The Libyan appealing against his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing has said he is "very distressed" after judges refused to grant him bail because he is dying of cancer.Lord Hamilton, Scotland's most senior judge, said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's prostate cancer was not advanced enough for him to deserve bail before his appeal had been heard, since medical experts said he could yet live for some years.In a ruling issued this morning, the Lord Justice General said Megrahi, 56, had been convicted of playing a prominent role in the atrocity, when a suitcase bomb killed 259 passengers and crew on Pan Am flight 103 and 11 townspeople in Lockerbie, on December 20 1988.Lord Hamilton overruled a previous agreement to limit public discussion about Megrahi's health by revealing that his life could yet be prolonged if palliative hormone treatment was successful.The Libyan's supporters and lawyers had originally suggested he had only months to live: the cancer was so advanced it had now spread to his bones and was incurable.But Lord Hamilton agreed with prosecutors that he was not currently suffering "material pain or disability", and was comfortable in prison.The judge added that if his illness worsened dramatically, then the court would review its decision to refuse interim liberation, despite the "grave nature" of the crime.Megrahi, in a statement issued by his lawyers immediately after the ruling, said: "I am very distressed that the court has refused to grant me bail and denied me the chance to spend my remaining time with my family."I wish to reiterate that I had nothing whatsoever to do with the Lockerbie bombing and that the fight for justice will continue, regardless of whether I am alive to witness my name being cleared."Megrahi's lawyers had urged the court last week to grant him interim liberation ? the Scottish legal equivalent of bail for convicted people ? because his prostate cancer was so advanced. Maggie Scott QC, his advocate, said there were many "compelling" reasons to justify his release.There was powerful evidence his conviction in 2001 was a miscarriage of justice, there was no chance of him absconding or committing further crimes, his release could prolong his life and the appeal process was being unfairly dragged out by the prosecution, she said.The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ruled last year that new evidence suggested Megrahi may have been wrongly convicted. It raised substantial doubts about the reliability of the key witness against him, a Maltese shopkeeper called Tony Gauci.The commission said it had uncovered a secret intelligence document from a foreign security agency, believed to cast doubt on evidence about the timer allegedly used in the bombing, which had never been shown to Megrahi's defence.His appeal team is now fighting attempts by the Foreign Office to deny them access to the document. They also allege that Gauci was paid a witness reward by the US government, believed to be $2m, casting further doubts on his reliability.Two leading Lockerbie campaigners, Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, and Professor Robert Black, an authority on Scots law and the Lockerbie case, said they were disappointed Megrahi had not been bailed.It was a question of "common humanity", Dr Swire said. "It seems tragic that Scottish justice has missed a golden opportunity to display mercy in a situation where it has been unable to complete the appeal process within a reasonable time frame."Lockerbie plane bombingScotlandLibyaGlobal terrorismUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Man convicted of Lockerbie bombing to ask for early release

The Libyan man appealing against his conviction for killing 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 is to ask for early release from prison because he is terminally ill with cancer.Lawyers for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, now seven years into a 27-year sentence for bombing Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21 1988, will ask next Thursday for his immediate release from Greenock prison to live with his family near Glasgow under strict bail conditions.The Libyan, a former sanctions buster for Colonel Gadafy's regime, is fighting against his conviction after the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said last year he may have been wrongly imprisoned. He has repeatedly denied carrying out the bombing.The commission had substantial doubts about the reliability of a key witness and said evidence was withheld at his trial. His appeal was delayed after the Foreign Office blocked the release of a secret intelligence report that was not given to his original defence team, and prosecution attempts to limit the scope of his appeal. Al-Megrahi was told this month he is dying. Doctors discovered he has advanced and aggressive prostate cancer, which has spread to his bones. He has a few months left to live, a diagnosis confirmed by two cancer specialists.Both he and Scottish government ministers, who have sole jurisdiction over the courts in Scotland, are believed to be under pressure from the Libyan government to repatriate him to Libya and possibly commute his sentence. Some US relatives of those killed in the bombing are furious at the prospect of his early release, particularly as they are preparing to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the bombing - the most deadly terrorist attack on British soil. The likelihood of al-Megrahi being transferred back to Libya is believed to be slim, with no prospect of his sentence being quashed on compassionate grounds.His lawyer, Tony Kelly, has insisted al-Megrahi wants to fight his appeal from Scotland and will apply next week for "interim liberation", a form of bail, pending his appeal. Kelly will ask the courts to speed up his appeal at a hearing next month because of the urgency of his case.Lockerbie plane bombingScotlandLibyaUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds