[The most detailed report of today's events that I have been able to find comes from The Associated Press news agency. Excerpts appear below. The full report can be read here.]
The only person jailed over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing said he would drop his appeal against conviction — provided Britain allows him to serve the rest of sentence in Libya, a visiting Libyan official said Wednesday.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who is terminally ill with cancer, (...) has been fighting his conviction in a Scottish court, but a Libyan Foreign Ministry official said al-Megrahi would be willing to drop the case.
"He is sick. He has cancer. There is no cure for his case. He told me that he wants to die among his family and friends in his country," said Abdel Atti el-Ubaidi [more normally transliterated as Abdel Ati al-Obeidi, the Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs], who is leading a Libyan delegation to London. "Al-Megrahi said that he is ready to drop the appeal if he is guaranteed that he will be transferred to Libya." (...)
Al-Megrahi's lawyers have said British and U.S. authorities tampered with evidence, disregarded witness statements and steered investigators toward the conclusion that Libya, not Iran, was to blame. (...)
Al-Megrahi's appeal, which has been under review since April 28 at Edinburgh's High Court, points to an exhaustive 2007 legal review by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Board raised questions about evidence used to convict al-Megrahi.
Relatives of the victims expressed dismay Wednesday at the news that al-Megrahi might be sent to Libya.
Scottish lawmaker Christine Grahame said she believed al-Megrahi would succeed in clearing his name if he can complete the appeal process, but she said it was "understandable, on a personal level, why he would want to return to his homeland given his failing health."
She called for a public inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing, even if al-Megrahi were no longer in the country.
Robert Monetti, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, whose son Rick died in the blast, said "the American families are incredibly opposed to letting al-Megrahi out of Scotland."
"As a group we are generally convinced that he is guilty and ought to serve his sentence" in Britain, Monetti said.
El-Ubaidi, the Libyan official, said he made a request to Scottish officials Tuesday to drop the appeal. Scotland's government confirmed receiving the request, and said a decision could take three months or longer. Scotland had said it would not repatriate him while his appeal was being heard.
Meanwhile, appeals proceedings were held Wednesday at the court in Edinburgh. Al-Megrahi's lawyer Tony Kelly declined comment, prosecution spokesman Kevin Bell said the appeal was expected to continue.
Please see now the full documentary film "Lockerbie revisited", Regisseur Gideon Levy, over the facts in the conspiracy against Libya on the link, URL:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/41867169/media/41892895/
Former Lord Advocate Lord Fraser UK; Det. constable of Strathclyde police Thomas Gilchrist UK; ex forensic scientists Dr. Thomas Hayes (RARDE), ex forensic expert Allen Feraday (RARDE) UK; ex FBI expert Tom Thurman USA; former FBI Spezial Agent and Task Force chief Richard Marquise USA and others,
they are ashamed before their countries Scotland, United Kingdom and the USA, for the parasite and criminal influencing in the Lockerbie tragedy
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Appears to be a dispute between former Lord Advocate Lord Fraser and retired FBI agent Richard Marquise over whether the timer fragment (PT35b) was taken to the USA for identification (by the FBI Lab's Thomas Thurman) or whether the identification was done at Fort Halstead by RARDE's Alan Feraday (see Wikipedia article "Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 - Timer fragment").
The issue is important because Feraday was called to give timer fragment evidence at the Lockerbie trial, but Thurman was prevented from doing so. In 1997, US Inspector-General, Michael Bromwich, had prohibited Thurman from giving forensic evidence in criminal cases.
Seems to me to be a last-minute spoiler operation by the Crown (to confuse the timer fragment issue) just days away from the start of Mr Megrahi's second appeal. I hope Maggie Scott QC is not taken in by it. (Text taken over from Mr. Patrick Haseldine,
many thanks, Edwin Bollier)
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by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland
The chances to win the Appeal up to 22 the May 2009 by defence evidence are for Abdelbaset al Megrahi, at 100%! Mr. Megrahi and Libya do not have anything to do with the Lockerbie-Tragedy.
ReplyDeleteMr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi and Libya are intitled to get their honour back by a clear decision of the appeal court!
Mr. Megrahi said: "This is the real way to clear my name before I go back to my homeland Libya." Mr. Al-Megrahi has consistently maintained his innocence and has vowed to stay in Scotland and win his freedom through the appeal courts.
MEBO has already disposed of all the needed exonerating evidence to the Defence Team and the High Court.
More defence evidence for the memory of the former FBI Special Agent and Task Force Chief Richard A. Marquise, PART 2 comes today...
by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland, URL: www.lockerbie.ch
The documentary "Lockerbie revisited" by Dutch film director, Gideon Levy, (not to be confused with the renowned Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy, who writes for the "Haaretz" newspaper) can be viewed by visiting Wikipedia article "VPRO Backlight" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPRO_Backlight - and clicking on the referenced link.
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