I am grateful to Robbie the Pict for drawing my attention to the following article in Private Eye of 27 June 2008.
'Unless the Scottish judiciary resists blatant meddling from Westminster, the forthcoming appeal of Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, jailed for life for the Lockerbie bombing, is in danger of descending into fiasco.
'Not only is the Foreign Office trying to keep secret intelligence documents that are crucial to the Libyan's defence by claiming public interest immunity (PII) on them (see Eye 1201), but the Crown Office is now seeking to limit Megrahi's appeal too.
'Crown lawyers want the appeal restricted to the six grounds cited last year by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC). Because one of those grounds relates to documents which the UK government wants kept secret, the United Nations special observer, Dr Hans Kochler, has already said the appeal looks more like an "intelligence operation" than a fair hearing.
'To try now to limit the scope of the appeal will underscore Kochler's belief and confirm the view of many, including some of the victims' families, that the government does not want the truth to emerge about how and why Pan Am flight 103 was blasted from the sky nearly 20 years ago, killing 270 people.
'The secret documents relate indirectly to the timing device alleged to have detonated the bomb and said to provide the crucial link to both Libya and Megrahi. Recent leaks to two Scottish newspapers suggest the documents are German in origin and cast doubt on the Libyan connection. Scotland on Sunday quoted a source who had seen the material saying it held "considerable detail" and "appeared to confirm that the method of attack was typical of a Palestinian terror cell in Germany".
'A Syrian-backed Palestinian terrorist cell operating out of Frankfurt was of course broken by German police two months before Lockerbie. Altitude sensitive bombs packed in cassette recorders were found in their flat. It was calculated that they would blow an aircraft up around 40 minutes after take off- spookily similar to the fate of Pan Am 103 after it left Heathrow.
'The Palestinians were the main suspects for the Pan Am bombing for well over a year - until the investigation suddenly switched to Libya and Megrahi with the purported discovery of a tiny fragment of circuit board said to come from a Swiss-made MST 13 timer.
'How the fragment was found and later identified by UK scientists and US investigators has always been highly contentious. Thus any evidence about the timer is central to Megrahi's defence. As well as seeking disclosure of the secret material, it is understood his lawyers want to introduce the results of independent forensic tests casting farther doubt on the evidence given about the timer - unless the Crown Office succeeds in limiting the scope of the appeal.'
Yes the Palestinians were suspects for over a year but based on the EVIDENCE--nothing else-- the investigation turned to Libya. I am not sure why this discovery is being labeled as "contentious." It is only contentious to a man who has been convicted of the crime.
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