The grieving sister of one of the Lockerbie bomber's victims last night vowed to confront the freed killer - and FORGIVE him.
But lawyer Lisa Gibson is locked in a desperate race against time as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi lies close to dying of prostate cancer.
She wants Megrahi to know how much she misses her brother Kenneth, one of the 270 who died when Flight 103 was blown up, BUT also that she won't judge him.
Single Lisa, 39, below, of Colorado Springs, told us: "After Megrahi was convicted, I wrote and told him only God knows if he is responsible.
"Going to see him is the next stage in the process, to let him know how hard it's been without Kenneth and offer my forgiveness."
Lisa added: "If Megrahi survives the next few weeks, then the plan is to visit him at home.
"It will be very emotional, but I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain.
"Even he has said that if he is responsible, God will judge him, and I believe that." (...)
The devout Christian explained: "One of the things I feel personally called to do is to actually forgive Megrahi for the attack. That is motivated by my faith."
She sparked controversy last September when she met Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi - just weeks after Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ordered Megrahi to be freed from Greenock Prison due to his medical condition. (...)
And despite criticism of the Justice Secretary's decision, Lisa insists he was right to free the bomber.
She added: "Megrahi was shown a tremendous amout of compassion being allowed to go home to die with dignity.
"That's more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned."
[From a report in the Scottish edition of the tabloid Sunday newspaper News of the World.]
Lisa Gibson's attitude is commendable. It is refreshing to see that not all the bereaved Americans seem to fall in behind Mr Duggan's banner.
ReplyDeleteThere are really two sorts of positions on the rteurn of Mr Megrahi. There's the one which says he should have never been arrested and tried, or if there were a trial, he should have been acquitted, as the evidence was at least inadequate or worse faked from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the sort Lisa Gibson is saying that says the process was genuine, but compassion to a dying man is right to show.
I, as an extreme believer in the fakery theory, fakery that can clearly be demonstrated, find it hard to see how anyone can honestly believe Mr Megrahi has had due process and a fair trial.
Ms Gibson's view, though I deplore the continuance of her belief in Mr Megrahi's guilt, is the best second best position that can be adopted.
Puzzling positions abound ... believing you've lost a loved one to Libyans and being heaped with lies by your government can create thought processes I can only dimly imagine.
ReplyDeleteI find it commendable if a bit 'fruity' to flat forgive someone you though was guilty. She doesn't know if he;s guilty, and that's just decent honesty. Rare stuff. But one should care enough one way or the other, I thin, to narrow down some likelihoods with a little research, and decide if this is forgiveness for murder or acknowledgment of innocence, or ploy to twist out a deathbed confession of Gaddafi's role, or what.
I support Gibson's gesture, but given Megrahi's condition, welll... I'm sure he would have like to meet with her before. We shall see.
But Mr Logic, Ms Gibson might not find Mr Megrahi as contrite as she thinks he ought to be. Why should he when he knows he did not do Lockerbie, that the facts against him are clearly contrived, and the legal process, without the benefit of a jury, are no more than a staged farce?
ReplyDeleteWould a real perpertator care to comment on Ms Gibson's position? You know who I mean.