[Today is the official publication date of Jill Haldane's book An’ then the world came tae oor doorstep: Lockerbie Lives and Stories. What follows is taken from the Dumfries & Galloway Standard.]
When Pan Am Flight 103 fell from the sky and devastated the small community of Lockerbie, Jill Haldane had just returned home from university to spend Christmas with her family.
After the disaster nearly 20 years ago, Jill went back to university, shut all the memories away and got on with her young adult life.
She says it is only recently that she has thought deeply about what happened that night, and the result is a book of the life histories of 11 residents of Lockerbie, pivoting their disaster experiences. (...)
Jill says the fact she was there when the plane hit the town affected her enough later in life to think about doing a project about it, and to find out how other people had coped with what happened. (...)
The idea for the book came to Jill when she exhibited a display of historical and contemporary photographs in the town where she now lives in New Zealand.
She says there was an outpouring of stories from townspeople about their memories and remembrances of times passed, initiated by the photographs.
“I took the concept of sharing stories and experiences in a narrative sense and came back to Lockerbie in March this year,” said Jill.
“I used the disaster of 1988 as a reference point for the collection and collation of life histories of 10 residents and ex-residents, including my own experience, thoughts and feelings.
“The people I interviewed also talk about aspects of their life that may have been affected by the disaster, such as their faith, fate, stress, and their attitude to flying and terrorism.
“By collating the narratives of Lockerbie folk, generations will be able to share the authenticity and the resonance of our stories first-hand.” (...)
Her book is an oral history project, where the sound files from the interviews she did will be archived in a repository in Scotland, for research perpetuity, and is available now.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Petition to the Scottish Ministers
[An online petition to the Scottish Ministers regarding the compassionate release of Abdelbaset Megrahi can be accessed, and signed, here. The text of the petition follows.]
We, the undersigned, hopeful that an application will be made to the Scottish Ministers for the compassionate release of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, respectfully urge the Scottish Ministers to take into account the following factors.
Mr Megrahi is terminally ill and would undoubtedly benefit physically and psychologically from compassionate release to his home in Glasgow while he awaits the outcome of the appeal granted to him by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in June 2007.
It will be many months before Mr Megrahi's appeal is finally decided.
Their Lordships in the Court of Appeal have stated that they do not consider Mr Megrahi to be a flight risk
We would respectfully ask you to consider any application in a favourable manner allowing Mr Megrahi to spend his very limited remaining time in Scotland with his family and loved ones.
We, the undersigned, hopeful that an application will be made to the Scottish Ministers for the compassionate release of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, respectfully urge the Scottish Ministers to take into account the following factors.
Mr Megrahi is terminally ill and would undoubtedly benefit physically and psychologically from compassionate release to his home in Glasgow while he awaits the outcome of the appeal granted to him by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in June 2007.
It will be many months before Mr Megrahi's appeal is finally decided.
Their Lordships in the Court of Appeal have stated that they do not consider Mr Megrahi to be a flight risk
We would respectfully ask you to consider any application in a favourable manner allowing Mr Megrahi to spend his very limited remaining time in Scotland with his family and loved ones.
Libya plays catch up from Lockerbie fall-out
This is the title of an article by Afaf Geblawi, writing from Tripoli, on the website of Middle East Online. It reads in part:
'For Libyan analyst Mustapha Zeidi, the country has been the victim of "injustice and an irrational stubbornness on the part of Western countries," squeezing Tripoli with economic and political pressures.
'"This confrontation with the West had serious repercussions on the country's development," said Zeidi, a prominent politician in Libya. It was only "wisdom of Libyan policies" that allowed both sides not to lose face.
'For Zeidi, intelligence agent Abdel Baset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi who was jailed for the 1988 plane bombing over the Scottish village of Lockerbie is a "political hostage" who has been "sacrificed for his country".
'Mahmud Bussifi, editor-in-chief of Oea newspaper which is close to Gathafi's influential son Seif al-Islam, says it is high time for the West to tell the truth of Megrahi's innocence on the basis of new evidence which has emerged.
'Megrahi, handed over by the Libyan authorities in 1999, was two years later condemned to a life prison term with a minimum 27 years behind bars for the December 21, 1988 bombing which killed 270 people.
'The Libyan agent, who has terminal cancer, is behind bars in Scotland awaiting an appeal scheduled for next year.
'"Although we are certain of his innocence, the only thing that interests us now is for him to be able to spend his remaining days with us, even if it is in Scotland," said wife Aisha, warning of his "critical" condition.
'She thanked the efforts of Libyan authorities to have him released and "the compassion and support of victims' families who also believe in his innocence."'
The full text can be read here.
'For Libyan analyst Mustapha Zeidi, the country has been the victim of "injustice and an irrational stubbornness on the part of Western countries," squeezing Tripoli with economic and political pressures.
'"This confrontation with the West had serious repercussions on the country's development," said Zeidi, a prominent politician in Libya. It was only "wisdom of Libyan policies" that allowed both sides not to lose face.
'For Zeidi, intelligence agent Abdel Baset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi who was jailed for the 1988 plane bombing over the Scottish village of Lockerbie is a "political hostage" who has been "sacrificed for his country".
'Mahmud Bussifi, editor-in-chief of Oea newspaper which is close to Gathafi's influential son Seif al-Islam, says it is high time for the West to tell the truth of Megrahi's innocence on the basis of new evidence which has emerged.
'Megrahi, handed over by the Libyan authorities in 1999, was two years later condemned to a life prison term with a minimum 27 years behind bars for the December 21, 1988 bombing which killed 270 people.
'The Libyan agent, who has terminal cancer, is behind bars in Scotland awaiting an appeal scheduled for next year.
'"Although we are certain of his innocence, the only thing that interests us now is for him to be able to spend his remaining days with us, even if it is in Scotland," said wife Aisha, warning of his "critical" condition.
'She thanked the efforts of Libyan authorities to have him released and "the compassion and support of victims' families who also believe in his innocence."'
The full text can be read here.
Lockerbie’s quiet dignity
In the little town where children should have been settling down to a deep and dreamless sleep, the townsfolk, doctors, farmers and emergency services were out combing the fields and hills for survivors and finding 270 dead bodies. It was a vision of hell and the flashbacks and sickening memories would torment many of them for years. Yet through the grim aftermath their response was practical, caring and dignified. They offered hospitality to bereaved relatives, many from the US; police and army personnel meticulously combed hundreds of square miles for scraps of evidence; the women of the town washed and ironed clothes to return to grieving families, quietly shedding a tear over the baby garments. Some relived the harrowing details as they gave careful evidence to the fatal accident inquiry or the court case.
Professor Robert Black, who was involved in setting up the legal mechanism which allowed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi and his co-accused to be tried under Scots law on neutral ground in the Netherlands, is also a son of Lockerbie and says that after the initial shock, the people of the area simply got on with their lives. That is the Scottish way. In recent years, it has been increasingly disparaged as repressed and unhelpful, but is a legacy from generations of our forebears who stubbornly met disaster with fortitude and it has been matched by generosity from Syracuse University in setting up a scholarship for Lockerbie students. In remembering Lockerbie on Sunday, we should salute the determination of all those who continue to counter terrorism by building something positive from death and destruction.
[From today's edition of The Herald. The full editorial can be read here.]
Professor Robert Black, who was involved in setting up the legal mechanism which allowed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi and his co-accused to be tried under Scots law on neutral ground in the Netherlands, is also a son of Lockerbie and says that after the initial shock, the people of the area simply got on with their lives. That is the Scottish way. In recent years, it has been increasingly disparaged as repressed and unhelpful, but is a legacy from generations of our forebears who stubbornly met disaster with fortitude and it has been matched by generosity from Syracuse University in setting up a scholarship for Lockerbie students. In remembering Lockerbie on Sunday, we should salute the determination of all those who continue to counter terrorism by building something positive from death and destruction.
[From today's edition of The Herald. The full editorial can be read here.]
Peter Fraser pins colours to the mast
In an article in The Times, the Lord Advocate at the time that charges were brought against Abdelbaset Megrahi and Lamin Fhimah for the destruction of Pan Am 103, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC, expresses his confidence in the evidence that led to the conviction of Megrahi. Here are excerpts:
'Lord Fraser does not discount the involvement of other states, but he points out that no definitive evidence has been produced to link them to the attack. The Libyans, on the other hand, were traced through the diligence of Scottish detectives, who managed to identify the manufacturers of clothing found in the suspect suitcase that had held the bomb. By proving that the clothing had been bought in Malta, and then establishing that the purchaser was al-Megrahi, they laid the foundations of the Crown case. “For me that was the most significant breakthrough,” Lord Fraser says now.'
'Tam Dalyell, the former MP, has argued that the CIA may have known about the attack beforehand. Lord Fraser rejects that. “I told Tam Dalyell: if there was a conspiracy, then I am in it up to the neck. I have to be involved. The only other possibility is that I have been so naive that bits of evidence have been planted, and I have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. But four other Lord Advocates have also examined the evidence and they have all concurred with it.”'
On the issue of the provenance of the MST-13 circuit board fragment which was crucial to the establishment of a link between Libya and the destruction of the aircraft, Lord Fraser hedges his bets somewhat:
'The discovery of a fragment of circuit board from a timer made by a Swiss company with links to Libya was critical to the prosecution. But accounts of how, where and by whom it was found varied. The original fragment was found several miles from the wreckage, and some weeks after the disaster.
'It was not until very much later that the CIA claimed to have identified it and matched it with a circuit board manufactured by Mebo of Zurich, a company run by Edwin Bollier, who had supplied timers to the Libyan Government. Some experts have argued that the find was just a bit too convenient to the US investigators, since, by targeting the Libyans, they could avoid falling out with Iran and Syria, important allies at the time of the Gulf War. So could the CIA have planted the evidence? “I don’t know,” says Lord Fraser. “No one ever came to me and said, ‘Now we can go for the Libyans’, it was never as straightforward as that. The CIA was extremely subtle. For me the significant evidence came when the Scottish police made the connection with Malta.” Pressed for his own view, he cites a Scottish murder case, that of Patrick Meehan, in which, it was alleged, the prosecution case had been “improved” by the planting of evidence. Was there a similarity? “I don’t know,” he said again, “but if there was one witness I was not happy about, it was Mr Bollier, who was deeply unreliable.”'
'Lord Fraser does not discount the involvement of other states, but he points out that no definitive evidence has been produced to link them to the attack. The Libyans, on the other hand, were traced through the diligence of Scottish detectives, who managed to identify the manufacturers of clothing found in the suspect suitcase that had held the bomb. By proving that the clothing had been bought in Malta, and then establishing that the purchaser was al-Megrahi, they laid the foundations of the Crown case. “For me that was the most significant breakthrough,” Lord Fraser says now.'
'Tam Dalyell, the former MP, has argued that the CIA may have known about the attack beforehand. Lord Fraser rejects that. “I told Tam Dalyell: if there was a conspiracy, then I am in it up to the neck. I have to be involved. The only other possibility is that I have been so naive that bits of evidence have been planted, and I have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. But four other Lord Advocates have also examined the evidence and they have all concurred with it.”'
On the issue of the provenance of the MST-13 circuit board fragment which was crucial to the establishment of a link between Libya and the destruction of the aircraft, Lord Fraser hedges his bets somewhat:
'The discovery of a fragment of circuit board from a timer made by a Swiss company with links to Libya was critical to the prosecution. But accounts of how, where and by whom it was found varied. The original fragment was found several miles from the wreckage, and some weeks after the disaster.
'It was not until very much later that the CIA claimed to have identified it and matched it with a circuit board manufactured by Mebo of Zurich, a company run by Edwin Bollier, who had supplied timers to the Libyan Government. Some experts have argued that the find was just a bit too convenient to the US investigators, since, by targeting the Libyans, they could avoid falling out with Iran and Syria, important allies at the time of the Gulf War. So could the CIA have planted the evidence? “I don’t know,” says Lord Fraser. “No one ever came to me and said, ‘Now we can go for the Libyans’, it was never as straightforward as that. The CIA was extremely subtle. For me the significant evidence came when the Scottish police made the connection with Malta.” Pressed for his own view, he cites a Scottish murder case, that of Patrick Meehan, in which, it was alleged, the prosecution case had been “improved” by the planting of evidence. Was there a similarity? “I don’t know,” he said again, “but if there was one witness I was not happy about, it was Mr Bollier, who was deeply unreliable.”'
The Herald on the approaching anniversary
Today's edition of The Herald features a series of articles on the town of Lockerbie as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the event that brought it for the first time in centuries to the attention of the world. In addition, Lucy Adams contributes an article entitled "Discredited evidence that convicted al Megrahi leaves relatives no nearer finding out the truth", which is both self-explanatory and manifestly true.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
"A sacrificial lamb"
The wife of the Lockerbie bomber claims that her husband became a sacrificial lamb for the whole of Libya when he agreed to be tried for a crime that he says he did not commit.
Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi surrendered his freedom so that his country could free itself from United Nations sanctions and improve its global image, his wife Aisha said.
Mrs al-Megrahi gave a rare interview at the family home near Glasgow, close to the prison where her husband is serving a life sentence for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that claimed the lives of 270 people in 1988.
“He sacrificed himself for the sake of an entire nation,” she told The Times, in an interview conducted in Arabic. (...)
At times she appears optimistic, then she is overcome by sombre thoughts. “I’ve lost hope,” she said. “Even if they tell me he’ll be released I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes. Because we’ve been let down again and again.”
Asked how her husband feels about Lockerbie’s 20th anniversary – on Sunday – she said: “He wants the world to know that he’s innocent and that he feels for those innocent lives lost in the bombing . . . because he too has a family and parents.”
[From an article by Richard Kerbaj in The Times of 19 December. The complete article can be read here.]
Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi surrendered his freedom so that his country could free itself from United Nations sanctions and improve its global image, his wife Aisha said.
Mrs al-Megrahi gave a rare interview at the family home near Glasgow, close to the prison where her husband is serving a life sentence for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that claimed the lives of 270 people in 1988.
“He sacrificed himself for the sake of an entire nation,” she told The Times, in an interview conducted in Arabic. (...)
At times she appears optimistic, then she is overcome by sombre thoughts. “I’ve lost hope,” she said. “Even if they tell me he’ll be released I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes. Because we’ve been let down again and again.”
Asked how her husband feels about Lockerbie’s 20th anniversary – on Sunday – she said: “He wants the world to know that he’s innocent and that he feels for those innocent lives lost in the bombing . . . because he too has a family and parents.”
[From an article by Richard Kerbaj in The Times of 19 December. The complete article can be read here.]
Alternate Ending
"Terror and Tears, Part 4, Alternate Ending", the fourth instalment of the series on the Lockerbie disaster being broadcast by Syracuse NY news channel News10Now, can be viewed here, as can the written article that accompanies it. A sceptical eye is cast over the "official" version of events that led to the conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi.
Proceedings at tenth (public) procedural hearing
Today’s procedural hearing was largely concerned with fine-tuning the protocol drafted by the court regarding the appointment, powers and duties of the special counsel to be appointed in connection with the document relating to timers in respect of which the UK Foreign Secretary has asserted public interest immunity on grounds of national security and international relations.
This document has not been made public and so it is difficult for observers to form an opinion as to its contents or, indeed, to follow the submissions made by the appellant’s counsel and the Advocate General on behalf of the Foreign Secretary. However, the document has now been finalised and the person suggested by the appellant’s legal team has been appointed by the court to perform this function, subject to his (or her) successfully undergoing the necessary security vetting. The court urged the relevant authorities to carry out the vetting of the special counsel (and any solicitor appointed by him to assist in the performance of his duties) with the very highest urgency. The Crown and the Advocate General were instructed to prepare summaries of the submissions made by them at the closed hearing (from which the appellant’s lawyers were excluded) so that they can be handed over to the special counsel as soon as his vetting is successfully concluded. The appellant’s legal team indicated that they would be in a position fully to brief the special counsel by 23 January 2009.
The remaining issue discussed was the timing of the next procedural hearing (to consider the further petitions for disclosure lodged on behalf of the appellant before the ninth procedural hearing on 27 and 28 November). Maggie Scott QC for Mr Megrahi proposed that it should be on a date between 21 and 23 January, it having been indicated by the court administrative office that all three of the judges were available then. Ronnie Clancy QC argued that this was, for various reasons, far too early for the Crown and that a date should be fixed in February or March. The Advocate General concurred. The court indicated that it would consider these submissions and intimate its decision on the date of the next hearing “in early course”.
Still no obvious sign, therefore, that either the Crown or the Advocate General have revised their Fabian tactics in the light of the appellant's medical condition or any other factors.
This document has not been made public and so it is difficult for observers to form an opinion as to its contents or, indeed, to follow the submissions made by the appellant’s counsel and the Advocate General on behalf of the Foreign Secretary. However, the document has now been finalised and the person suggested by the appellant’s legal team has been appointed by the court to perform this function, subject to his (or her) successfully undergoing the necessary security vetting. The court urged the relevant authorities to carry out the vetting of the special counsel (and any solicitor appointed by him to assist in the performance of his duties) with the very highest urgency. The Crown and the Advocate General were instructed to prepare summaries of the submissions made by them at the closed hearing (from which the appellant’s lawyers were excluded) so that they can be handed over to the special counsel as soon as his vetting is successfully concluded. The appellant’s legal team indicated that they would be in a position fully to brief the special counsel by 23 January 2009.
The remaining issue discussed was the timing of the next procedural hearing (to consider the further petitions for disclosure lodged on behalf of the appellant before the ninth procedural hearing on 27 and 28 November). Maggie Scott QC for Mr Megrahi proposed that it should be on a date between 21 and 23 January, it having been indicated by the court administrative office that all three of the judges were available then. Ronnie Clancy QC argued that this was, for various reasons, far too early for the Crown and that a date should be fixed in February or March. The Advocate General concurred. The court indicated that it would consider these submissions and intimate its decision on the date of the next hearing “in early course”.
Still no obvious sign, therefore, that either the Crown or the Advocate General have revised their Fabian tactics in the light of the appellant's medical condition or any other factors.
The "punishment part" of a life sentence
'Since the adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights, a murderer is now also told the "punishment part" of the sentence, that is the number of years which must be served before any application can be made for release on licence.
'Only the life term is set by statute, and judges are free to decide the appropriate punishment part in each case.
'In a benchmark judgment in 2002, the appeal court, then headed by Lord Cullen, the Lord Justice-General, reduced from 30 to 27 years the punishment part imposed on Andrew Walker, a former Royal Scots corporal who had shot dead three people in an army payroll robbery.
'Although it was never spelled out why a top line should be drawn, or why it ought to be set at 30 years, sentencing judges began to apply such a ceiling and also latched on to another part of the judgment to use 12 years as the "norm" in murder cases, the period going up or down depending on the aggravating or mitigating features of the individual case.
'It had been anticipated following the Walker ruling that 30 years would be reserved for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, as being guilty of the worst possible case of murder, but he was given 27 years.
'The sentencing judges in his case used 30 years as the maximum, but decided they could go below it because of his age, then 51, and because he would be serving his sentence in a foreign country and, as they understood it, in solitary confinement.
'The sentence was condemned by relatives of some of the 270 Lockerbie victims, and the Crown announced at that time that it would use the case to challenge the notional 30-year upper limit, but the sentencing issue has been held up while Megrahi pursues an appeal against his conviction.'
[From an article by John Robertson in today's edition of The Scotsman.]
'Only the life term is set by statute, and judges are free to decide the appropriate punishment part in each case.
'In a benchmark judgment in 2002, the appeal court, then headed by Lord Cullen, the Lord Justice-General, reduced from 30 to 27 years the punishment part imposed on Andrew Walker, a former Royal Scots corporal who had shot dead three people in an army payroll robbery.
'Although it was never spelled out why a top line should be drawn, or why it ought to be set at 30 years, sentencing judges began to apply such a ceiling and also latched on to another part of the judgment to use 12 years as the "norm" in murder cases, the period going up or down depending on the aggravating or mitigating features of the individual case.
'It had been anticipated following the Walker ruling that 30 years would be reserved for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, as being guilty of the worst possible case of murder, but he was given 27 years.
'The sentencing judges in his case used 30 years as the maximum, but decided they could go below it because of his age, then 51, and because he would be serving his sentence in a foreign country and, as they understood it, in solitary confinement.
'The sentence was condemned by relatives of some of the 270 Lockerbie victims, and the Crown announced at that time that it would use the case to challenge the notional 30-year upper limit, but the sentencing issue has been held up while Megrahi pursues an appeal against his conviction.'
[From an article by John Robertson in today's edition of The Scotsman.]
National Geographic admits Lockerbie documentary mistakes
'The National Geographic channel has admitted that it made mistakes in a controversial television documentary on the Lockerbie disaster.
'Air Crash Investigation: Lockerbie, which used computers to recreate the impact on the Scottish town, stated in its opening line that two years prior to the bombing, the sabotage of Air India flight 182 had happened off the coast of Scotland.
'However, the channel now has to "rectify" the narration to explain the Air India explosion was off the south coast of Ireland, three-and-a-half years before the bombing over Lockerbie of Pan Am 103 - which caused 270 deaths on December 21, 1988.
'Just days before the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, National Geographic apologised for the mistakes and said they would be rectified.'
[From an article by Lucy Adams in The Herald. It is a pity that National Geographic did not also apologise for its gullibility in peddling an explanation of the disaster that has been seriously challenged (amongst others by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission) and that is likely to be comprehensively discredited in the current appeal by Abdelbaset Megrahi.]
'Air Crash Investigation: Lockerbie, which used computers to recreate the impact on the Scottish town, stated in its opening line that two years prior to the bombing, the sabotage of Air India flight 182 had happened off the coast of Scotland.
'However, the channel now has to "rectify" the narration to explain the Air India explosion was off the south coast of Ireland, three-and-a-half years before the bombing over Lockerbie of Pan Am 103 - which caused 270 deaths on December 21, 1988.
'Just days before the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, National Geographic apologised for the mistakes and said they would be rectified.'
[From an article by Lucy Adams in The Herald. It is a pity that National Geographic did not also apologise for its gullibility in peddling an explanation of the disaster that has been seriously challenged (amongst others by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission) and that is likely to be comprehensively discredited in the current appeal by Abdelbaset Megrahi.]
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Time for Reflection
Presented by Father Patrick Keegans at the Scottish Parliament on 17th December 2008 at 2.30 pm
And I will lead the blind in a way they know not;
in paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
and rough places into level ground. (Is. 42, 16)
These words from the Prophet Isaiah have great significance in my life.
When I was the Parish Priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Lockerbie, I was in my house at 1 Sherwood Crescent on the evening of the 21st December 1988. My mother, Mary Keegans, was with me.
The darkness came. At 7.04pm PanAm flight 103, destroyed by a bomb on board the aircraft, crashed into the town of Lockerbie.
The darkness came. The lights went out. The house shook violently. An almighty explosion tore Sherwood Crescent apart; and then there was a silence and stillness and still the darkness.
Then another kind of darkness took over: the thick, suffocating darkness that comes from extreme grief: the darkness that invades the human spirit, that threatens to crush and destroy. 270 people had been murdered, eleven residents of Sherwood Crescent and 259 passengers on Pan Am 103.
And into that darkness there came light. That light came from the people of Lockerbie. It was the light of genuine love, care and concern for all who were suffering. The people of Lockerbie, shocked to the core, looked not to themselves but to others. They are a shining jewel in the Crown of Scotland. The words of John’s Gospel speaking about Christ come to mind: “A light shines in the darkness, a light that darkness could not overpower”. (John 1, 5.) The love, light, and compassion of Christ were shining through the people of Lockerbie as it does to this very day.
Approaching the 20th Anniversary of the Lockerbie air Disaster our thoughts and our prayers turn to those who died; and we remember our friends in the USA, our UK families, all other nationalities, and all who, in some form or another, are victims of the disaster.
At a time of great sorrow I was asked by Dr. Jim Swire whose daughter Flora died on the plane to conduct a service for the UK families. The words of Isaiah came to me. I pray and reflect on these words every day:
And I will lead the blind in a way they know not;
in paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
and rough places into level ground. Is. 42, 16
I pray that each day God will lead us and guide us.
I am elated and honoured to be with you in what is a very special place and to speak these words to you.
Thank you
And I will lead the blind in a way they know not;
in paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
and rough places into level ground. (Is. 42, 16)
These words from the Prophet Isaiah have great significance in my life.
When I was the Parish Priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Lockerbie, I was in my house at 1 Sherwood Crescent on the evening of the 21st December 1988. My mother, Mary Keegans, was with me.
The darkness came. At 7.04pm PanAm flight 103, destroyed by a bomb on board the aircraft, crashed into the town of Lockerbie.
The darkness came. The lights went out. The house shook violently. An almighty explosion tore Sherwood Crescent apart; and then there was a silence and stillness and still the darkness.
Then another kind of darkness took over: the thick, suffocating darkness that comes from extreme grief: the darkness that invades the human spirit, that threatens to crush and destroy. 270 people had been murdered, eleven residents of Sherwood Crescent and 259 passengers on Pan Am 103.
And into that darkness there came light. That light came from the people of Lockerbie. It was the light of genuine love, care and concern for all who were suffering. The people of Lockerbie, shocked to the core, looked not to themselves but to others. They are a shining jewel in the Crown of Scotland. The words of John’s Gospel speaking about Christ come to mind: “A light shines in the darkness, a light that darkness could not overpower”. (John 1, 5.) The love, light, and compassion of Christ were shining through the people of Lockerbie as it does to this very day.
Approaching the 20th Anniversary of the Lockerbie air Disaster our thoughts and our prayers turn to those who died; and we remember our friends in the USA, our UK families, all other nationalities, and all who, in some form or another, are victims of the disaster.
At a time of great sorrow I was asked by Dr. Jim Swire whose daughter Flora died on the plane to conduct a service for the UK families. The words of Isaiah came to me. I pray and reflect on these words every day:
And I will lead the blind in a way they know not;
in paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
and rough places into level ground. Is. 42, 16
I pray that each day God will lead us and guide us.
I am elated and honoured to be with you in what is a very special place and to speak these words to you.
Thank you
Tenth (public) procedural hearing
From my report of proceedings at the procedural hearing held on 28 November 2008:
"The court indicated that, after having considered the submissions of the parties [regarding the appointment and rôle of the special (security-vetted) counsel], it would draft a protocol which would settle these issues of principle. The parties, at a hearing yet to be fixed, would be given an opportunity to make representations on matters of detail, but not on the principles enshrined therein."
The hearing to consider submissions on the protocol drafted by the court is to be held on Thursday, 18 December 2008 at 10.15 am.
"The court indicated that, after having considered the submissions of the parties [regarding the appointment and rôle of the special (security-vetted) counsel], it would draft a protocol which would settle these issues of principle. The parties, at a hearing yet to be fixed, would be given an opportunity to make representations on matters of detail, but not on the principles enshrined therein."
The hearing to consider submissions on the protocol drafted by the court is to be held on Thursday, 18 December 2008 at 10.15 am.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
The Long Thunder
"Terror and Tears, Part 2, The Long Thunder", the second instalment of the series on the Lockerbie disaster being broadcast by Syracuse NY news channel News10Now, can be viewed here, as can the written article that accompanies it.
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