An inquiry into conviction of Megrahi should go ahead but is unlikely to win support in the US

[This is the heading over a letter by John M Wilson of Houston (presumably the Renfrewshire not the Texas one) in today's edition of The Herald. It reads as follows:]

The idea that American families will respond favourably to Father Pat Keegans’s letter in support of an inquiry into the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi (“US families urged to back new inquiry into Megrahi conviction”, The Herald, November 22) is as likely as the old adage about turkeys voting for Christmas.

The recent rejection of a review of the case by the Scottish Government will only give support to the theorists that Megrahi was wrongly convicted. Scotland should not be left in a situation similar to that which exists in the US, where theories still abound about who really shot John F Kennedy.

The verdict at Camp Zeist is considered [by the Scottish Government] to be a just one but, despite that, there are people who declare themselves dissatisfied with that. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is critical of the verdict but has no axe to grind other than to highlight what it considers deficiencies in the case which could have resulted in an incorrect verdict. Dr Jim Swire and his many supporters have declared similar views and should at least be granted some form of judicial review. The fact that Megrahi has survived beyond the estimated time following his release adds weight to the demands for a review and has created more suspicion that his release was more to do with politics than justice.