Lockerbie bomber had 'three months to live'... now he's well enough to go home



The row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber was reignited last night after it emerged he has been released from hospital.

Abdelbaset Al Megrahi was freed from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds in August after a medical assessment concluded he had only three months to live because of his prostate cancer.

But the 57-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent and his family now say that, while weak and terminally ill, he is not close to death, and continues to work on clearing his name.



Sick bed: Abdelbaset Al Megrahi gets treatment by international specialists

As the three-month landmark approaches next Tuesday, they say they 'live in hope of a miracle from God'.

Furious relatives of the 270 victims of Britain's worst terrorist atrocity said the move 'mocked' the decision to free him.



Megrahi's release from prison was surrounded by allegations that it was part of a deal struck between Britain and Libya.

Susan Cohen, who lost her 20-year-old daughter Theodora in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town, said: 'It confirms my view that this was done for political reasons, because of oil deals. It had nothing to do with compassion.



Victims: Susan Cohen and her husband Daniel hold a picture of their daughter Theodora who was killed in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight 103

'The fact Megrahi is still alive despite the three-month diagnosis just shows what an absolute travesty of justice his release was.

'There is no reason he should not be in a Scottish jail. His continued survival shows that the caring, "compassionate" approach [ Scottish Justice Secretary] Kenny MacAskill took was frankly absurd.'



Megrahi, the only man convicted of the bombing, was worshipped as a hero on his return to Libya and is having his treatment by a team of international specialists funded by the Libyan authorities.



Hero's welcome: Megrahi is hugged by Seif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, as he walks down the stairs upon his arrival in Libya

A government official in Tripoli said: 'Although brother Megrahi is still in a very bad way, there is always hope... he is not giving up.

'Brother Megrahi believes he needs many more years, mainly to prove his innocence of the Lockerbie bombing.'

Megrahi's lawyer, Tony Kelly, said the bomber was adding new material to a book he began in prison detailing his 'ordeal' and which, he says, could clear his name.

But prosecutors are set to block its publication by seeking a court order to stop the book being sold anywhere in the world.



They would also be able to claw back any profits Megrahi makes if it does become available.

Officials at East Renfrewshire Council, which is monitoring what happens to Megrahi as part of his licence conditions, declined to comment on his current medical state.