[Z]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001.

He was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was suffering from cancer and was said to have only months to live.

When he returned to the Libyan capital, he received a hero's welcome.

Shortly before being freed, Megrahi dropped his second appeal against his conviction.

His release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster.

But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing.

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event".

"Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group.

"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."

Died at home

His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.

He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.

Last month, Megrahi's son said his father had been taken to hospital for blood transfusions.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi at home in Tripoli (October 2011) Megrahi, who had cancer, died at his home in Tripoli, his brother said

Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.

It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil.

All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground.

Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi.

He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991.

But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.

Their trial began in May 2000. Ffimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.

He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison.

He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released.

Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli.

There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.

But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.

Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.

Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was released.

At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released.

But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed.

In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."

He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.

Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the public appearance confirmed that a "great mistake" was made in releasing him from jail.

[Marc]

Not too sure what to say. Good?

But then death is never nice and should never be celebrated.

[Livia]

Doctors describe his condition as "satisfactory".

[thesheriff443]

he should of had explosive strapped to him and blown up

[Pyramid*]

An incredibly sad day for his family.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter.

[arista]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

he should of had explosive strapped to him and blown up

No Need
He has gone now.


I have had to go to FoxNewsHD
(Not stuck on his death.)


As BBC and SkyNews are Stuck on his Death in loops

Its a 2min report - We do not want Live Debates on him.

[MTVN]

Mmm but was he guilty?

[arista]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Mmm but was he guilty?

Yes

[waterhog]

wont effect my sleep tonight -

[Firewire]

I don't believe he was the actual bomber, more likely to have taken the blame.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by Firewire

I don't believe he was the actual bomber, more likely to have taken the blame.

In respect of whether he was the actual bomber: or the extent of his involvement: it's something I've never been quite convinced of.

I used to think the Scottish Government were so wrong in allowing his extradiction: but then.... perhaps they know something we don't about it - something just didn't sit right and I'm not entirely sure it was 'bad judgement' for allowing his extradition..

[Shaun]

AnOtHeR sTaR iN hEaVeN </3xxx

or something. idc. rot bitch.

[joeysteele]

I don't know for sure obviously whether he was the bomber or involved in it or if he was made like a scapegoat as to the incident.

He was found guilty he was in prison, I find it incredible that some parents of victims even befreinded him and don't believe he was the bomber or even connected to the event.
So maybe we will never get any real answers to this one,it seems near inconceivable to me,(not impossible though), that only he could have masterminded this whole event and carried it through himself.

I agreed with his release to die at home, he has lived longer than was expected, as a Doctor said though, an illnesses progression like this can be helped to be more positive if you are in a loving,more stress free environment.

There won't be likely many tears anywhere else for him rather than from his own loved ones but he has protested his innocence all through and as I said above, we are unlikely to ever learn anything more as to this now,unfortunately.

[lostalex]

good. he's finally getting what he deserves, no thanks to the insolent and ignorant scottish justice system.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Mmm but was he guilty?

Originally Posted by Firewire

I don't believe he was the actual bomber, more likely to have taken the blame.

He was convicted in a court of law. No one ever said he did it alone but that he was a part of the bombing. He was tried in a court of law and found guilty. Unless some new evidence has been uncovered, I'm sticking with the guilty verdict.

He lived the last five years as a free man and died with his family after having a chance to say goodbye. More than can be said about the people who died in the bombing... just in case people are forgetting there were victims to this crime.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Livia

He was convicted in a court of law. No one ever said he did it alone but that he was a part of the bombing. He was tried in a court of law and found guilty. Unless some new evidence has been uncovered, I'm sticking with the guilty verdict.

He lived the last five years as a free man and died with his family after having a chance to say goodbye. More than can be said about the people who died in the bombing... just in case people are forgetting there were victims to this crime.

not to mention that the LIbyans admitted it, and actually paid millions of dollars to the victims families. Ghaddaffi admitted being responsible and paid compensation to the families. Why would he do that if it wasn't true??

ghadaffi and al-megrahi are burning in hell together now. (i don't actually believe in hell, but i'm just fantasizing, forgive me)

[Livia]

Originally Posted by lostalex

not to mention that the LIbyans admitted it, and actually paid millions of dollars to the victims families. Ghaddaffi admitted being responsible and paid compensation to the families. Why would he do that if it wasn't true??

Exactly. I just don't understand the sudden grief for this man. He's the best kind of terrorist: A dead terrorist.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Livia

He was convicted in a court of law. No one ever said he did it alone but that he was a part of the bombing. He was tried in a court of law and found guilty. Unless some new evidence has been uncovered, I'm sticking with the guilty verdict.

He lived the last five years as a free man and died with his family after having a chance to say goodbye. More than can be said about the people who died in the bombing... just in case people are forgetting there were victims to this crime.

Well I'm not going to claim to be an expert but it does seem a bit dubious to me. Yes I'm aware there are victims to this crime, I'm also aware that a lot of the victims families campaigned for his release and championed his innocence:

David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for the victims of Lockerbie families, said: “I was told seven days ago by very good sources in Tripoli that he was slipping in and out of quite deep comas, that the secondary tumours had affected his abdomen and lower chest, and that he had had three blood transfusions.

“His death is to be deeply regretted.

“As someone who attended the trial I have never taken the view that Megrahi was guilty.

“Megrahi is the 271st victim of Lockerbie.”

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi's death was a "very sad event".

Dr Swire, a member of JFM, believes there is evidence yet to be released that will prove Megrahi's innocence.

"It's a very sad event," he told Sky News.

"I met him last time face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain.

"But he still wanted to talk to me about how information which he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death.

"And I think that's a fairly amazing thing for a man who knows he's dying to do.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...d-7769459.html

There's no smoke without fire, do you think people who saw their daughters die because of this bombing call the perpetrator's death a "very sad event" if they didn't have reason to think he might not have been guilty?

There are a lot of holes in this case, for example

The trial of Megrahi and his fellow Libyan defendant Lamin Khalifa Fhimah at a specially constituted Scotttish court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands came under criticism from international jurists. The two men were effectively charged with joint enterprise, yet only Megrahi was found guilty. The prosecution evidence was circumstantial; details of the bomb timer on the plane contradictory and the testimony of a key witness, a Maltese shopkeeper, shaky under cross-examination.

The evidence of a supposedly prime "CIA intelligence asset", codenamed "Puzzle Piece" who turned up in a Shirley Bassey wig, was widely viewed as risible. It emerged later that important evidence had not been passed on to the defence lawyers.

Professor Hans Kochler, a UN appointed legal observer, described the proceedings and a subsequent failed appeal by Megrahi as "inconsistent, arbitrary and a spectacular miscarriage of justice".

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...e-7769683.html

[King Gizzard]

Its crazy to think Johnny Rotten was scheduled to be on this flight of all flights but his wife was panicking and they missed it or something..and there were 1 or 2 that died that were kind of well known...RIP to them all

[joeysteele]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...d-7769459.html

There's no smoke without fire, do you think people who saw their daughters die because of this bombing call the perpetrator's death a "very sad event" if they didn't have reason to think he might not have been guilty?


I saw this man on the news talking about this MTVN that you posted above and he made me think on it too. There does seem a lot that has not been revealed about this tragic incident.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by Livia

He was convicted in a court of law. No one ever said he did it alone but that he was a part of the bombing. He was tried in a court of law and found guilty. Unless some new evidence has been uncovered, I'm sticking with the guilty verdict.

He lived the last five years as a free man and died with his family after having a chance to say goodbye. More than can be said about the people who died in the bombing... just in case people are forgetting there were victims to this crime.

How can you be so sure that he was not forced into saying he may have been as part of the bombing? He could have literally had guns placed on the heads of his family unless he took the blame.

You will of course have heard and be fully aware of the countless Miscarriages of Justice that our UK courts of law decide upon - people who have been sentenced and imprisoned for decades - only for new evidence come to light, for Appeal Courts to be allowed to consider new evidence, old evidence & statements etc that were never allowed during the trials and previous appeals etc.

For many of the families of the tragic victims to take the view that John Squires and others have taken: given that they will have had far more access to information and to Al-M than any of us who were not directly involved would have: I'd say there may indeed be a good chance that all was not quite what it seemed.