Current fiction protecting those who carried out attack

[The following is a transcript of an item broadcast today on the AM radio programme of Australia’s ABC News:]

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The death of the Lockerbie Bomber, Abdel Basset Megrahi last Sunday from cancer could result in the truth finally coming out about the terrorist attack that killed 270 people in the skies over Scotland.

The judge who set up special court that convicted Megrahi back in 2001 has told AM the case was deeply flawed and he wants an immediate retrial. 

British prime minister, David Cameron, has rejected the push, saying the original court case was properly conducted.

But momentum is building for a new trial or a public inquiry.

Matthew Carney reports.

MATTHEW CARNEY: Abdel Basset Megrahi returned home to Libya in 2009 to a hero's welcome. 

Many in the west were outraged that he was released early only serving eight years of a 27 year sentence for mass murder.

Megrahi had always insisted he was innocent.

And now Robert Black, the judge that set up the special court in The Netherlands that convicted him in 2001, agrees. [RB: I was only a part-time judge in the sheriff court. I did not set up the court: after the Libyan defence team refused to contemplate a trial under normal Scottish procedure, I suggested a non-jury court sitting in the Netherlands. Megrahi and Fhimah’s Libyan lawyers immediately agreed, as did the then Libyan Government, in a letter signed by Moussa Koussa. It was another four years and seven months before the UK and US governments, under strong international pressure, also agreed.]

ROBERT BLACK: It's an absolute and utter disgrace that Megrahi was convicted on the evidence that was laid against him. 

The main planks of the Megrahi conviction have now crumbled.

MATTHEW CARNEY: The key witness to Megrahi's conviction was the Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci. 

He identified Megrahi as the man that bought a shirt that was later found wrapped around fragments of the bomb at the crash site.

ROBERT BLACK: Megrahi did not fit the description that Gauci had given to the police of the purchaser. That description was of a man over six feet tall, over 50 years of age and with dark skin. Now Megrahi is light skinned, he is five feet-eight inches tall, or was before he died [and he was at the time 36 years old]. 

MATTHEW CARNEY: Black says new evidence shows Tony Gauci gave 19 wildly conflicting police statements, and that the prosecution's star witness had to be coached.

ROBERT BLACK: Before the court appearance at Zeist when (...) he pointed to Megrahi and said he looks a lot like the person who bought the clothes, he had been shown photographs of Megrahi by the prosecution. 

MATTHEW CARNEY: Black believes the other critical piece of evidence to the prosecution's case has also been discredited. It's a fragment of the bomb's timer found at the crash site that had been tracked to a Swiss manufacturer that sold the device to Libya.

ROBERT BLACK: It has now become clear, in the past few days that that [sliver] of circuit board that formed virtually the only link between the bomb and Libya, does not in fact come from one of these Swiss circuit boards. It is metallurgical[ly] different from the circuit boards used in the Mebo, the Swiss company's, timers. 

MATTHEW CARNEY: Momentum is building for an appeal to go ahead or an independent inquiry to held. 

Many victims' families are supporting the move, like Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora, in the disaster.

JIM SWIRE: What the current maintained fiction is doing is to protect those monsters who actually did carry out the attack; who I believed to have been originally people in Iran using a particular terrorist group in Syria. 

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That's Dr Jim Swire ending that report from Matthew Carney.

‘Chained until we know the truth’

[This is the headline over a report published today on the website of the Scottish Catholic Observer.  It reads as follows:]

The priest who served Lockerbie when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up in 1988 said that, though the man convicted of the incident had been ‘released from his torment’ by his death, those affected by the tragedy would remain ‘chained until we know the truth’ behind the bombing.

Mgr Patrick Keegans, now the administrator of St Margaret’s Cathedral in Ayr, told the SCO this week that he believes the Scottish Government’s decision to release Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds two years ago had now been vindicated, but his and other people’s pursuit of the truth behind the Lockerbie bombing would continue.

He received support in his stance from Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, who said the decision to release Mr Megrahi had shown the ‘maturity and civilisation of the Scottish legal system,’ and from Cardinal Keith O’Brien who, like Mgr Keegans, has signed a declaration published on Sunday calling for a fully independent inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing.

Mr Megrahi died at his home in Libya on Sunday after a long struggle with cancer and Mgr Keegans said it was important to remember that any death was ‘a time of deep grief for the family’ and his ‘prayers and sympathy’ were with Mrs Megrahi and her family.

“However, the horrendous deaths of those who died at Lockerbie, and the suffering of their families are never out of mind,” he said. “And compassion for them is ongoing and unfailing.”

Mgr Keegans said that was why he, along with many others, would continue to pursue the truth behind the Lockerbie bombing.

“Serious doubt over the conviction shared by many people throughout the world,” he said. “This death is a release for him and his family but for the families of those who died, for all of us involved with Lockerbie in many ways we are not released. We are still chained and will be until we know the truth.

Mgr Keegan has joined Cardinal O’Brien, and many high-profile politicians, lawyers and clergymen in signing a statement by the Justice for Megrahi campaign which calls on the Scottish Government to endorse ‘an independent inquiry into this entire affair’ due to what they say are the large number of unanswered questions over the conviction of Mr Megrahi, whom Scottish Secretary of Justice Kenny MacAskill released on compassionate grounds after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

“I do think his release on compassionate grounds was a good thing,” Mgr Keegans said. “It was the right thing for him and I think he would have died a long time ago if he had remained in prison. So I am glad he got to go home, write his book and spend time with his family.”

Archbishop Conti joined the monsignor in praising for decision of the Scottish Government to release Mr Megrahi.

“Irrespective of whether time will confirm or exonerate him from involvement in the atrocity which happened over the skies of Lockerbie, I was supportive of the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi when it was made on compassionate grounds, and I remain sure that it was the right decision,” the archbishop said.

Libya pledges Lockerbie co-operation

[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of The Herald. It reads in part:]

Lockerbie investigators have been given fresh assurances by Libya's interim Prime Minister that his government will co-operate "as a priority" as they pursue new lines of inquiry into the terrorist outrage.

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, QC, and Patrick Shearer, chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, the force investigating the 1988 bombing which claimed 270 lives, held talks in London yesterday with Abdurrahim El Keib. (…)

It comes after discussions in Tripoli last month between Mr El Keib, Mr Mulholland and Robert Mueller, the director of America's FBI, to discuss the investigation.

Mr El Keib was in London to meet Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "Following the meeting with the Lord Advocate in Tripoli in April, the interim Libyan Prime Minister met the Lord Advocate and the chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway in London to discuss and re-affirm the commitment he gave to the Lord Advocate and the director of FBI in April that the new Libyan Government would co-operate with Scottish and US law enforcement in the investigation of ... the Lockerbie bombing.

"The Prime Minister asked for clarification on a number of issues relating to the conduct of the proposed investigation in Libya and the Lord Advocate has undertaken to provide this.

"The Prime Minister made it clear he recognised the seriousness of this crime, and following the clarification he would take this forward as a priority. As the investigation remains live, and in order to preserve the integrity of that investigation, it would not be appropriate to offer further comment."

Megrahi's death sparked renewed calls for investigators to pursue high-profile members of Colonel Gaddafi's now defunct regime.

Among people likely to be topping the interview list for prosecutors are

Moussa Koussa, the former head of Libya's external intelligence, and Abdullah al Senussi, Gaddafi's brother-in-law and former Libyan intelligence chief.

Both are believed to hold vital information about Libya's role in the plot to bomb Pan-Am flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie killing all 259 on board and 11 people on the ground.

Yesterday First Minister Alex Salmond, responding to a request by Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie, rejected pleas for a Scottish public inquiry into the case.

Mr Rennie had claimed it was an opportunity "to shine a light" on the conduct of the Crown Office.

Prosecutors have been criticised over their handling of the case, with a report by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission finding six separate grounds for a possible appeal against Megrahi's conviction.

Mr Salmond said: "As Willie Rennie should know, the relatives of Mr Megrahi have the ability, if they so choose, to go back to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission and seek further leave to appeal. That is the process which can be followed."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Number 10 said: "The Prime Minister noted that Prime Minister El Keib had met with the Lord Advocate earlier in his visit regarding the Lockerbie case and hoped that progress would be made on outstanding questions."

[Mike Wade’s sketch in The Times on yesterday’s First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood contains (behind the paywall) the following:]

The serious stuff was left to Willie Rennie, the Lib Dem leader, and Graeme Pearson, a Labour MSP who once did a job in the real world, as director-general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. Both were prompted by the death of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, to raise questions about the case.

Mr Rennie was intrigued by a call from such notables as Desmond Tutu, Terry Waite and John Pilger, for an independent Scottish inquiry into the bombing and its investigation, citing the conduct of the Crown Office as a something to be considered in an inquiry.

Mr Salmond’s answer was mostly from the texts of recent government press releases — “The place where you determine guilt or innocence is in a court of law” — but was notable for one well-made point: “The forensic trail which led to Malta and Libya was upheld in that exhaustive review of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission,” he said, a point often overlooked in media commentaries on the case. [RB: Certainly the SCCRC did not accept that PT35b, the timer fragment that linked Libya to the bomb, had been planted or fabricated.  But it has subsequently been conclusively established by expert metallurgical examination that that fragment did not come from one of the MEBO timers supplied to Libya. The link to Libya has been shattered.]

Mr Pearson was concerned with al-Megrahi’s release in August 2009, and its connection to a guest he received at Greenock prison two weeks earlier: Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Minister. Hadn’t this visit, and Mr MacAskill’s subsequent handling of criticism, done “reputational damage” to the government?

This time Mr Salmond’s answer was notable for what he left out. He said that correspondence published by the Cabinet Office had shown that the Labour Government was prepared to trade al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement — but failed to mention that the same correspondence suggested that Mr MacAskill had also been prepared to countenance such a deal, in 2007.

Lord Advocate and D & G Chief Constable meet Libyan PM

[What follows is the text of a press release issued today by the Crown Office:]

"Following the meeting with the Lord Advocate in Tripoli in April, the interim Libyan Prime Minister met the Lord Advocate and the Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary today in London to discuss and reaffirm the commitment he gave to the Lord Advocate and the Director of FBI in April that the new Libyan Government would co-operate with Scottish and US law enforcement in the investigation of others with Megrahi in the Lockerbie bombing.

“The Prime Minister asked for clarification on a number of issues relating to the conduct of the proposed investigation in Libya and the Lord Advocate has undertaken to provide this. The Prime Minister made it clear that he recognised the seriousness of this crime and following the clarification he would take this forward as a priority.

“As the investigation remains live, and in order to preserve the integrity of that investigation, it would not be appropriate to offer further comment.”

Note to editors:
On Wednesday 25 April, 2012 the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC and Robert S Mueller, Director of the FBI met with the Libyan Prime Minister Abdurahim el-Keib in Tripoli to discuss the ongoing investigation into the Lockerbie bombing.

[A report on the BBC News website can be read here.]

MSPs back Lockerbie public inquiry calls

[This is the headline over a report by Lucy Adams published today on the heraldscotland.com website.  It reads as follows:]

Calls for an independent public inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing gained momentum yesterday following the backing of a number of high profile MSPs.

The Herald revealed yesterday that former MP and father of the House, Tam Dalyell believes there should be an inquiry into the atrocity to address the otherwise "indelible stain" on the country's justice system.

Following Sunday's death from cancer of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, a list of 42 signatories including Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for an inquiry.

MSPs have also added their voices to the debate.

Patrick Harvie MSP, co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, said: "Scotland's reputation for justice is at stake. The best way to establish the truth is to hold a public inquiry."

Leader of the Scottish LibDems Willie Rennie MSP said: "If the Megrahi family do not wish to take up an appeal, the Scottish Government should commit to an independent inquiry.

"The families deserve fair and comprehensive answers to this long running sore."

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald also called for an independent inquiry and said Scotland should take the lead.

She said: "It was our justice system that took the lead on this and convicted him so it should be Scotland that holds the inquiry. I don't understand why the Scottish Government don't want to do it."

The Scottish Government has so far rejected calls for a public inquiry.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The issues now being raised relate to the conviction itself and that must be a matter for a court of law."

Lockerbie inquiry calls rejected

[This is the headline over a report just published by The Press Association news agency.  It reads as follows:]

Fresh calls for an inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing have been rejected by the First Minister.

Only a court of law can determine guilt or innocence, Alex Salmond said during First Minister's Questions at Holyrood.

He was urged by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie to consider an inquiry less than a week after the man convicted for the atrocity died in Libya.

More than 40 politicians, religious leaders and journalists signed a letter on Tuesday calling for an independent inquiry into Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's conviction. The "perverse judgment" has left Scotland's criminal justice system a "mangled wreck", the letter says.

Mr Rennie said: "The First Minister has previously said he would be prepared to co-operate with a UK inquiry. If he has no objection to an inquiry in principle, and this group wants a Scottish inquiry, will he agree to hold it?"

Mr Salmond said: "The place where you determine guilt or innocence of an individual is a court of law.

"As Willie Rennie should know, the relatives of Mr Megrahi have the ability, if they so choose, to go back to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission and seek further leave to appeal. That is the process which can be followed."

Mr Rennie said the conduct of the Crown should be looked at, rather than focusing on guilt or innocence.

He asked Mr Salmond: "Surely it can't just be left in the hands of a family somewhere in Tripoli for that to be determined? If he chooses to act on this inquiry he'd have the support of Desmond Tutu, Terry Waite, John Pilger and so many others. This is not a normal case. It's Scotland's biggest terrorist atrocity. These are serious questions raised by serious people, and the world is watching."

Mr Salmond replied: "They're looking for an inquiry for the responsibility, ultimately, for Lockerbie. That touches on matters of huge international importance which would be beyond the ability of the Scottish inquiry to summon witnesses, compel evidence, etcetera."

[Mr Salmond gravely misrepresents the nature of the inquiry that Justice for Megrahi is seeking.  The true position is, as has been pointed out on many occasions, that what is being called for is an inquiry into the investigation, prosecution and conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi. Each and every one of these matters is within the jurisdiction of Scots law and the remit of the Scottish Government:

The event occurred over and on Scottish territory.
The case was investigated by a Scottish police force.
The trial was conducted under Scots Law.
Mr Megrahi was convicted under Scots Law.
Mr Megrahi was imprisoned in a Scottish gaol.
The SCCRC referred the second appeal to the Scottish Court of Appeal.
Mr Megrahi was given compassionate release by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice.

That is the nature of the inquiry that Justice for Megrahi's petition is asking the Scottish Government to convene. A more wide-ranging inquiry into what really happened to Pan Am 103 would involve non-devolved issues.  Such an inquiry would have to be instituted by the UK Government (or by the UK and Scottish governments jointly -- the Inquiries Act 2005 specifically envisages such joint inquiries in section 32 read with section 1(2)). But we are and always have been clear that our request to the Scottish Government relates exclusively to matters that are within devolved Scottish jurisdiction.  


In a statement after First Minister’s Questions, Willie Rennie said:

“A liberal society should be one that is prepared to look hard at its justice system, even if it is worried about what it might find.

“I have called for a Scottish public inquiry into the Lockerbie prosecution.

“The First Minister has the opportunity to shine a light onto the conduct of the Crown Office, which for years has been left blemished by the six separate grounds of appeal identified by the Government's own Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

“On matters which relate to the integrity, fairness and justice of the Scottish justice system, it is simply not good enough to leave this to a family in Tripoli.

"Questions relating to Scottish justice are not a matter to be left to a UK inquiry. It has the backing of 40 leading figures, is about Scotland's biggest terrorist atrocity and potential flaws have been identified by the Government's own review body. We need the First Minister to act."]

Pan Am 103: Libya and a case unclosed

[This is the title of an article by Professor Paul Rogers published today on the Open Democracy website.  It reads as follows:]

The death on 20 May 2012 of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only person ^↑ convicted of the bombing of a passenger airplane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, has been followed by calls for a renewed enquiry into the circumstances of and responsibility of the tragedy. The focus of these calls is thus very different from the controversy over al-Megrahi's release ^↑ from custody by the Scottish government in August 2009 on medical grounds, for it relates to the murders of the 259 people on Pan Am 103 and the eleven townspeople who died in Lockerbie itself.

This may seem a fine distinction, since the "compassionate" release in 2009 ^↑  provoked fierce international criticism of the Scottish government's decision; not least because of suspicions that it was linked to potential oil deals between the British government in London and the then Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi. Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond stoutly denies any such hidden agenda, and points ^↑ out that the case remains under police investigation; for, whatever the extent or otherwise ^↑ of al-Megrahi's guilt, few people, whatever their views, believe that he acted alone.

The doubts over the case ^↑ revolve around several areas, but at the outset it is worth bearing in mind two things:

* Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was one of two people tried for the attack; the other, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was cleared, released and returned to Libya

* Al-Megrahi's case was itself up for consideration by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ^↑ in 2007 following the raising of issues about his conviction, a review process that ceased on his release.

But the core issue regarding the Lockerbie attack goes much further than details of legal proedure, important though these are. It concerns the question ^↑ of Libyan involvement as a whole. This has been pursued by a number of people, most notably the families of some ^↑ of the British passengers who were among the 270 people killed when Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie.

A different scenario

Many press articles and broadcast documentaries have examined the background. A recent, detailed analysis is by Davina Miller in a leading academic security journal (see "Who Knows About This? Western Policy Towards Iran: The Lockerbie Case ^↑", Defense and Security Analysis, 27/4, December 2011). The intention of Miller's paper is not to reach a firm conclusion, but to use numerous sources (including United States and United Kingdom legal documents and intelligence-agency sources) to examine the argument that there is a convincing alternative narrative to the official one.

In the most compressed terms, the proposition at the heart of this narrative is that the attack was sponsored by Iran in retaliation for the deaths of 290 passengers and crew of Iran Air Flight 655 when this craft, an Airbus 300, was shot down ^↑ in July 1988 over the Persian Gulf by the American guided-missile cruiser ^↑ USS Vincennes.

The case does not claim that Iranian officials were directly involved in the Lockerbie bombing, but that they sponsored the Damascus-based PFLP-GC ^↑ Palestinian paramilitary group to conduct the attack. This group both had the expertise and was known at the time to be working towards attacking western aircraft.

At first sight the idea seems far-fetched. After all, why would Libya surrender the two defendants for trial (in April 1999) and offer compensation of $2.7 billion to the bereaved families (in August 2003)? The counter-argument is that these moves ^↑were predicated on easing and even ending international sanctions, and that their timing - four years years after the attack - was connected to Libya's effort to "come in from the (geopolitical) cold".

That aspect of the whole affair ^↑ may still be problematic. But it has to be set alongside substantial problems with the case against al-Megrahi that Davina Miller ^↑analyses.

There are four elements involved:

* Luqa Airport in Malta, where the bomb was apparently put on a feeder flight, was regarded as a particularly secure airport and one that presented considerable difficulties for any individual or group that wanted to get a bomb onto a plane

* Al-Megrahi was identified as buying clothing in Malta, fragments of which were found among the remains of the suitcase containing the bomb; but there were serious doubts about the reliability of the identification

* Al-Megrahi used a false passport in Malta, though this was apparently common practice among Libyan security people (al-Megrahi was actually known to the CIA as a Libyan "technical communications expert")

* There were some problems with the forensic evidence presented at the trial, evidence that became very much more problematic after it when some of the forensic personnel were discredited for reasons of incompetence.

If al-Megrahi was not responsible ^↑ for the Lockerbie attack, this still leaves thequestion ^↑ of why the investigation focused on Libya and so neglected the possibility of Iranian involvement.

The argument here is that the Lockerbie attack ^↑ came at a time when there was a need to improve relations between the United States and Iran, because of the influence Tehran had on the release of western hostages ^↑ being held by its Shi'aallies in Lebanon. To focus systematic blame for Lockerbie on the Iranians would, it is argued, have made release of the hostages much less likely.

Perhaps the strongest aspect of the whole matter ^↑ relates to the starting-point: that one of the two people tried for the mass murder was found not guilty, and even al-Megrahi's guilt was sufficiently problematic for his case to be up for review.

The major political changes in Libya in 2011-12 make it possible that further evidence may emerge there, though the hatred of the current leadership for theGaddafi regime may make them more than willing for him to continue to take the blame. The answer, instead, may actually lie in Tehran, and might in due course be confirmed, but there is little probability of that in the near future.

What remains is the unsatisfactory situation that has received fresh attention ^↑ with al-Megrahi's death. But Davina Miller's investigation does present copious evidence of exactly why the situation is unsatisfactory. This at least makes it less likely that the matter will now fade from view.

... a stain on Scotland's very soul ...

[What follows is taken from an article in the current issue of the Scottish Review by Judith Jaafar headlined Unless the SNP tells us what it knows about Lockerbie, I'm quitting the party:]

I am one of the many supporters of the present Scottish Government who is suffering what one might describe, in a cliched manner, as a dark night of the soul. Why is it not coming clean about the lies of previous administrations regarding the guilt of Megrahi? 

Why is it not, even in the most cynical view of such things, making political traction out of the fact that this happened before it came to power and that it is now in a position to show the world what a just, decent and honest nascent nation Scotland is, by washing dirty, filthy linen in public and pointing fingers at conspirators and wrongdoers? Why indeed has it seemingly made it even more legislatively difficult for potential miscarriages of justice to be opened up to public inquiry, away from the judiciary who may indeed have perpetrated such miscarriages?

I have thought long and hard about these questions, speculating wildly about this and that and the other. I do not believe that the SNP government is intrinsically weak and corrupt, nor ill-motivated. I firmly believe that it knows the whole truth about the Lockerbie affair, as does the Westminster government, the American government and just about every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet – everybody knows that something is seriously amiss (except Johann Lamont) [Scottish Parliament Labour Party leader]. 

I think that by releasing Megrahi compassionately the Scottish Government tried to do the right thing, morally, whilst failing to address the legal and justiciary issues. So what's stopping it going the whole hog and revealing the the extent of the fitting-up of an innocent man, and the cover-up that has thus ensued? What is tying its hands? What subtle, or even overt pressure is being applied? By whom? For what reason? For surely there are things going on here that we do not understand, at least not in public circles. (...)

My speculations are as useful or as useless as anyone else's, but I must admit my old buddy Robert Fisk of Beirut and Independent fame put into words the other day in the paper exactly what my thoughts are on this matter. Oh, how enraged the Americans were when we released Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Hillary Clinton went ape-shit, at least publicly, and half the American government and nation wanted to see Scotland disappear off the face of the earth, those of them that had any knowledge of the Lockerbie bombing in the first place. What weak fools the Scots were, and a whole bunch of Yankees were never going to set foot in Scotland again. 'Bovvered', I had to ask?

But therein lies the possible answer to this ethical/judicial/political conundrum. How much does a fledgling-yet-ancient nation on the periphery of Europe, breaking away from the colonial master and possibly now flying free without the safety net of a strong European Union, need the goodwill of the USA (and all the Scottish expats and ancestors therein), still the most powerful political and economic entity in the world? Hmm. As Fisk concluded, no matter how self-righteously enraged the Yanks were at the release of Megrahi, can you imagine how incandescent they would be if Scotland dared to reveal the truth about the Lockerbie bombing?

If I were Alex Salmond, I would be finding it hard to sleep at night. I don't envy him his position, but have informed the party executive that unless they come clean about Megrahi, in whatever way they can, I will be leaving the party that I have belonged to since I was a nipper. That's how important this issue is to me. It's not really about poor Abdelbaset (may Allah bless him), but about the integrity of Scotland. This whole affair is a stain on Scotland's very soul.

Lockerbie faces Megrahi death

[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of the Dumfries &  Galloway Standard, a newspaper circulating in the Lockerbie area.  It reads as follows:]

Tears won’t be shed in Lockerbie for convicted mass murderer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Local reaction to his death has been subdued with the regret that his passing will “change nothing.”

It leaves many questions unanswered and an ongoing investigation for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary.

Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell said: “Mr Meghrahi’s passing is the end of a chapter but not the end of a story that has unfolded since that terrible night in 1988. “It will not bring closure to all those bereaved or otherwise caught up in that tragic event and who want answers.”

Former Lockerbie councillor Marjory McQueen (pictured) became a public face for the town in the wake of the Lockerbie Disaster and in 2010 received an MBE for her work.

She said: “There will be no tears shed in Lockerbie but there won’t be dancing in the streets either.

“Lockerbie has moved on since the disaster. As far as the town is concerned we are a generation on from it and we are getting on with our lives.”

Marjory, whose husband, Ken, was a GP in Lockerbie at the time of the disaster, said: “It has been noted that he has died. We were expecting that. It does not alter anything for the victims and their families and for Lockerbie. Nothing will change with his death – 270 innocent people have still lost their lives.

“We have a humanitarian role in Lockerbie to look after the memorials and the visitor centre so that we are welcoming to the loved ones who want to come.”

Annandale North councillor Ted Brown said: “The members of our close community will differ in the way that we respond to this news.

“Those who felt that he was guilty may obtain some closure now that he has died.

“Those who were not convinced of his guilt may feel that his passing means that we may never know the full truth of who was involved in the 1988 bombing.”

A local councillor at the time of the disaster, former teacher David Wilson said: “I don’t think there will be a tear shed or a celebration.

“So many of us lost friends and even neighbours that day and remembering those who died is the most important thing.

“His death might draw a line under some things but it won’t provide anyone with any closure.”

[A further report in the same newspaper reads in part:]

The family of Scotland’s worst ever mass murderer could seek an appeal in a bid to clear his name. (…)

His death has led to fresh calls for answers into the Lockerbie Disaster and comes as the Scottish Government is funding the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary’s investigation team to seek the truth in Libya after the death of Colonel Gaddafi.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who publicly opposed Megrahi’s release, has rejected calls for further review into his conviction.

However, First Minister Alex Salmond said on Monday there is nothing to stop Megrahi’s family from seeking a fresh appeal.

He said: “It is open for relatives of Mr Megrahi to apply to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission to seek a further appeal. And the best, indeed the only, place for guilt or innocence to be determined is in a court of law.”

Mr Salmond added: “His death does, however, put to rest some of the conspiracy theories which have attempted to suggest that his illness was somehow manufactured.

“Mr Megrahi’s death ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book.

“The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation, and Scotland’s criminal justice authorities have made clear that they will rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry. Scotland’s senior law officer the Lord Advocate recently visited Libya, and we have been offered the co-operation of the new Libyan authorities. It has always been the Crown’s position that Mr Megrahi did not act alone but with others.”

His thoughts were echoed by Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown [Labour], who said: “There are still so many unanswered questions about the bombing of Pan Am 103. Megrahi’s death means that the possibility of getting all the truth about the disaster may have died with him.”

Elaine Murray MSP [Labour] said: “The Scottish Government still need to come clean about the medical evidence that led to the three month prognosis being made, but today our thoughts are with those who lost their lives.”

Jim Hume, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP, said: “It should act as spur to establish the facts.”

And Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell [Conservative] said: “There are so many unanswered questions surrounding this tragedy and it is crucial that we continue to seek vital answers.”

Megrahi doubts

[Two of the letters that appear in The Scotsman today under this heading read as follows:]

Bearing in mind Tony Gauci’s insistence that the man who purchased clothing in his shop was about 50 years old, over 6ft tall, heavily built and dark-skinned (Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was 36, 5ft 8in tall, of medium build and light-skinned), Clive Fairweather’s doubts over his identification of Megrahi (your report, 21 May) are well founded.

The “evidence” linking Megrahi to the bombing was sparse, none of it stands up to close scrutiny and without Gauci’s testimony there would surely be no case to answer.

I find it incomprehensible that anyone who has studied the Lockerbie case in any detail can swallow the guilty verdict.

Robert Woodcock

Bob MacDougall (Letters, 22 May) refers to Mr Megrahi getting a hero’s welcome on his return to Libya.

My impression was that it was mainly a family welcome, with little state participation apart from the presence of Colonel Gaddafi’s son. Clans and extended families seem less important now in Scotland than they once were, but remain significant in Libya. Mention is made of Saltire flags at that welcome but not of how they got there. There was a suggestion at the time that they were provided by the British Embassy.

We may never know the truth of that, or the motive if true. There is much which we may never know about this case, but we may hope that Mr Megrahi’s appeal may be re-opened, for the sake of his family and friends but also for the sake of the reputation of Scotland’s legal system.

David Stevenson


[Interesting commentaries following the death of Megrahi are to be found on the Business Insider website (Burying the “Lockerbie bomber”—and the truth) and on the Aljazeera website (Megrahi's death - An end to a century of mistrust?)]