"He is on his last breath"

[What follows is an excerpt from a report from The Associated Press news agency published today on the CTV News website:]

The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing was taken to hospital on Saturday for a blood transfusion with his health deteriorating, his family says.

The son of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, Khaled, said his father was carried to Tripoli Medical Center for the second time in two days.

"My dad's health is very bad and has been worsening," Khaled told The Associated Press at the family house in Tripoli. "He is on his last breath," he added. (…)

Since his return to Libya, al-Megrahi rarely appeared in public. Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's fall last year spurred calls in the United States and Europe to return him to prison. Two New York senators asked the former rebels to hold al-Megrahi fully accountable for the bombing.

At that time, Libya's rebel leaders, who were scrambling to replace Gadhafi's regime with a government of their own, said they would not deport al-Megrahi or any other Libyan. They then softened their stance, saying that only the future elected government could deal with such issues. (…)

Little is known about al-Megrahi. At his trial, he was described as the "airport security" chief for Libyan intelligence, and witnesses reported him negotiating deals to buy equipment for Libya's secret service and military.


[Reports on the websites of The Scotsman and The Independent can be read here and here; and one in The Sunday Times (behind the paywall) here. An Agence France Presse news agency report published this afternoon contains the following:] 

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, was unconscious and in critical condition in hospital on Sunday, a close relative said.

"He is unconscious and his condition has been very critical over the last three days," a member of the family who declined to be named told AFP by telephone.

"Three days ago (Friday) he lost a lot of blood to the extent his life was in danger," the relative said, adding that Megrahi was hospitalised for an emergency blood transfusion.

"He hadn't been able to speak for 11 days so we were afraid," he said.

In Al-Afia clinic, near Tripoli international airport, members of his family shuttled in and out of his bedroom but declined to speak to the press, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

"We are very tired," his brother told AFP.

"We feel a huge loss because he was a prisoner for 10 years and then came back to us sick," said the relative, adding that his family has since been under "huge pressure" from the press and even come to blows with reporters.

Medical officials at the hospital declined to comment on his health.

"It is against hospital policy, medical ethics and the wishes of his family," clinic director Fawzi Addala said.

Nurses were equally tight-lipped.