Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, has
died, his brother has told Reuters.
Megrahi, 59, died at home after a long battle with cancer. His health had
deteriorated quickly, his brother Abdulhakim told Reuters on Sunday.
"He died an hour ago," Abdelhakim al-Megrahi said, putting the time
of death at shortly after 1.00 pm (1100 GMT).
Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as it
flew to New York from London. All 259 people aboard the airliner were killed
and 11 others on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie died from
falling wreckage.
The Libyan terrorist survived for almost three years after a doctor said he
had only months to live and he was released on "compassionate"
grounds from a Scottish prison.
Britain freed him in 2009 on compassionate grounds because he was suffering
from advanced terminal prostate cancer and thought to have months to live.
His release angered many relatives of the victims, 189 of whom were American,
and the Obama administration criticised the decision. A number of US
politicians have pressed for his extradition to the United States, something
Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said it would not do.
Megrahi, who served as an intelligence agent during the rule of Muammar
Gaddafi, denied any role in suspected human rights abuses in his home
country before Gaddafi's fall and death in a popular uprising last year.
0 komentar:
Speak up your mind
Tell us what you're thinking... !