Hi fellow forumites As we enter the final days of the corrupt and evil Gaddafi regime in Libya, it has been revealed that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the so-called "Lockerbie bomber", has been discovered in a near-death coma, unable to obtain medicine or to receive professional medical care of any type whilst his country is in turmoil. Megrahi, who was found guilty of carrying out the terrorist act that claimed the lives of 270 people when a Pan-Am passenger aircraft exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on "compassionate grounds" after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only months to live. There remains legitimate doubt as to whether Megrahi truly was behind the bombing, but many people, particularly in the USA (where most of the victims came from) are adamant that he should be returned to prison and left to die there regardless of how long or how short a period of time that might take - a stance that the Scottish government, who authorised his release, opposes. I'm curious as to the views of WF members on this subject.
I honestly don't have an opinion on the story. He looks ill, going off the recent pictures, and I'm not so emotionally attached to him to wish anything to happen. If he dies soon it will not mean anything. At least not to me.
Lightman Good riddance is a very succinct response, but consider the words this week of Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the atrocity and who has always been one of the most high profile campaigners for justice for the families of those who perished, and who has long believed in Megrahi's innocence... "I feel extremely resentful that the murder of my lovely elder daughter Flora should be embedded in what I'm satisfied is in fact a tissue of lies which led to a politically useful outcome." There are a great many unanswered questions in this case.
Assuming he's guilty: tis always best to show mercy even (perhaps especially) when you have been shown none. Hearing things on the radio this morning, and searching about, the conviction does, indeed, look pretty dodgy.
He's going to die soon, and until 2009 he was in jail...I don't see the problem, he's not somebody who got away with what he had done.
Just a few days ago, I heard about prison guards walking around in a prison, throwing handgrenades into the prisoners cells and killing 87 people (out of 90 or so). The prison guards were all Gaddafi supporters, and the prisoners obvioulsy not. And as you say, the Gaddafi regime was corrupt and evil, and he was in charge around 40 years. Why should I care about one bomber?
WriterDude Only you can decide why you should care about "one bomber". Perhaps out of compassion for your fellow man (the same reason why the Scottish government released him in the first place). Or perhaps because there is serious doubt about Megrahi's guilt? As I said previously, Dr Jim Swire has been at the forefront of this case ever since it happened almost 23 years ago. He lost his daughter and has always fought to see the guilty punished and the victims receive justice. Frankly, there is nothing that this man doesn't know about the details of the bombing, and he is utterly convinced of the innocence of Megrahi. Indeed, he doesn't believe that the Libyans were involved at all. There was a very interesting book published many years ago that laid the blame at the door of Syria, and of course, the bombing itself was only months after the US military blew an Iranian passenger jet out of the sky, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, so that state doubtlessly had a strong motive too. All in all, given how close Megrahi is to the end, and given real question marks regarding his guilt, it seems reasonable to me to let him die in his homeland surrounded by people who care about him.
