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Scottish lawyer denies reports Lockerbie bomber deadThu, Oct 22, 2009 AFP LONDON, UK- A lawyer for Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi denied Wednesday a report that he had died, two months after being freed from a Scottish jail. Sky News television, quoting unidentified sources, said there were reports that Megrahi had died. He was freed from a Scottish prison and returned to Libya on August 20, on the grounds that he was dying of prostate cancer. "It's not true... he's alive and I know that for a fact," Scottish lawyer Tony Kelly told AFP, while declining to give details...

THE Scottish lawyer for Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has denied reports saying he had died. Sky News briefly reported that Megrahi had died just after 4pm today. But Megrahi's lawyer, Tony Kelly, told Reuters: "It's absolutely untrue. He's definitely not dead."

Breaking on Fox News,the Lockerbie bomber has died.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi told CNN he had met with some of the families of those who died in the 1988 bombing of a US jet over Lockerbie to offer his condolences. "Yes, I met some of them yesterday. It was a friendly meeting," the Libyan leader told CNN in excerpts of the interview released Friday. Kadhafi is making his first visit to the United Nations in New York. "I offered my condolences for the families who lost them. They also expressed their condolences for my daughter who was killed for the American raid in 1986," he said, speaking through...

(CNN) -- Lisa Gibson -- who lost her brother in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing -- sat down the other day with the man many blame for the notorious attack: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. "I welcomed him to America," Gibson told CNN. The 39-year-old Colorado Springs lawyer said she and another relative of a Lockerbie victim went to see the controversial figure in New York on Wednesday, the same day he delivered a rambling speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Calling herself an "ambassador of reconciliation," she views the encounter as the latest step in a journey to build bridges between...

Michael hits the nail on the head . . . and then comes this: The Obama administration has notified Congress of the State Department's intention to contribute $400,000 to foundations run by Muammar Qaddafi's two children — $200,000 each for daughter Aisha and son Saif. Saif, you may recall, is the son who escorted the Lockerbie terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi home to a hero's welcome in Libya after President Obama sternly "warned" Qaddafi that there was to be no hero's welcome. Illinois Republican congressman Mark Steven Kirk (House Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign Operations) has sent Obama a letter asking him...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today urged President Obama to withdraw his Administration's request to provide $400,000 to Libya's Qaddafi Foundation, just weeks after they celebrated the release of a terrorist responsible for the murders of 189 Americans. Last month, when Scotland freed Abel Baset Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi greeted him with a hero's welcome. Qaddafi's son, Saif, was involved in the negotiation for Megrahi's release and accompanied the terrorist back to Libya. Despite the U.S. Administration's strong condemnation of Megrahi's release, the State Department...

Sir – As a long-term employee in the oil and gas industry, having worked in various locations around the world including Libya, I would like to pose a few points for all and sundry to ponder. When I worked in Libya several years ago many locals were, at that time, quite adamant that Mr al-Megrahi would someday return to Libya – they have been proved right. Some went as far as to say they were sorry for the death of non-Americans on the doomed flight, but not necessarily for the American fatalities. Within the oil and gas industry wherever you...

Back from summer recess, Congress faces continuing outrage over Scotland's release of Libyan terrorist Abdel Bassett al-Megrahi, convicted of destroying Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. How did this happen? How is it possible, at the supposed height of "Obamamania" worldwide, that Great Britain, our closest ally, would free a terrorist who killed 270 innocents, 189 of them Americans? What does this mean for our policy against terrorism? British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's own ministers now concede, despite earlier denials, that Megrahi's triumphal return to Tripoli was linked to British interest in greater trade and investment with Libya. In the...

September 09, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Lockerbie Families Deserve AnswersWhat did U.S. officials know, and when did they know it? By Robert P. George The cat is out of the bag. British justice secretary Jack Straw has admitted that commercial issues “played a very big part� in the decision of British authorities to release ailing Lockerbie mass murderer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Straw’s admission falsifies claims by Prime Minister Gordon Brown that neither oil deals nor other commercial considerations were factors in the decision. The Brown government will soon answer to British voters for releasing Megrahi and for misrepresenting its...

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who recently released the Lockerbie bomber, has a brother who is an energy-industry executive and who has worked at firms that have pitched for oil business in Libya. The Scottish government, which has said that it made full disclosure of facts relevant to the decision, didn't disclose this relationship, and opposition politicians on Monday criticized this. [Kenny MacAskill] Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Scotish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill Over the years, Allan MacAskill has worked for several companies that sought oil business in Libya. Allan MacAskill says he didn't work on any of his employers' Libyan oil...

Exclusive: Lockerbie families could exploit legal loophole to raise conviction appeal after al-Megrahi's deathLockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's appeal could be back on, the Record can reveal. Family members of those killed have learned a legal loophole will allow a third party to have the case reopened on Megrahi's behalf after his death. The convicted terrorist - who is dying from cancer - sensationally dropped his case days before being freed on compassionate grounds. The move was viewed as a massive blow to the chances of the public ever getting to the truth of the Pan Am flight 103 explosion,...

Medical evidence that helped Megrahi, 57, to be released was paid for by the Libyan government, which encouraged three doctors to say he had only three months to live. The life expectancy of Megrahi was crucial because, under Scottish rules, prisoners can be freed on compassionate grounds only if they are considered to have this amount of time, or less, to live. Megrahi is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. Two of the three doctors commissioned by the Libyans provided the required three-month estimates, while the third also indicated that the prisoner had a short time to live.

President Obama and the US Secretary of State fuelled a fierce American backlash against Britain, claiming Abdelbaset Al Megrahi should have been forced to serve out his jail sentence in Scotland – but a senior Whitehall aide said their reaction was ‘disingenuous’. British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return. The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen. ‘The US was kept fully in touch about everything that...

UK sources: Obama knew about the Lockerbie bomber every step of the wayObama seems to have screwed up really big (Again!) British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return. The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.

British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return. ‘The US was kept fully in touch about everything that was going on with regard to Britain’s discussions with Libya in recent years and about Megrahi,’ said the Whitehall aide. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211495/No-10-turns-Obama-Clinton-criticising-decision-release-Lockerbie-bomber.html#ixzz0QOEVGOSk

Wasn't Barack Obama supposed to be the guy who was loved all across the world. During the campaign didn't they do public opinion polls that showed how the Obamessiah was the choice over McCain in all of our allied countries as well as our enemies? Those days are gone. Remember how he he upset the entire country of Great Britain by dissing their Prime Minister; no state dinner, no press conference and to top it all off President Obama gave the Prime Minister a crappy take-home gift, old DVDs that were in a format that couldn't be played in a...

The Brits made a remarkable statement: Whitehall said US President Obama and Hillary Clinton's reaction to Abdelbaset Al Megrahi's release was 'disingenuous.' The real issue, however, has less to do with the specifics of the Lockerbie release than with Obama's Chicago roots. The Brits could just have soon as said, "Mr Obama, if you want to contact the Canadians and tell them that your upcoming campaign rhetoric calling for a renegotiation of NAFTA is just that - rhetoric - that is for the Canadians to choose public silence in light of your specious ethics. We, however, do not take ethical...

Clarice Feldman It seems that Obama is not going to get away with blaming the Brits for releasing the Lockerbie bomber. At least not if Downing Street can help it. The British say the White House and Secretary of State Clinton were fully informed of the decision and are deflecting blame onto the British now that the decision has proven to be unpopular. (Of course, given how the American press hides stories, like Van Jones that reflect badly on the President, unless Americans seek out alternate media or read the foreign press the White House deflection will probably work.)

Revealed today was another kick in the teeth for the friends and families of the Lockerbie Bombing. A newspaper in Great Britain is reporting that the doctors who judged Lockerbie terrorist al-Megrahi had only three months to live where paid by Libya. In contrast other doctors suggested the terrorists had 10 or more months to live, not much better, but to get the compassionate release you had to be judged within three months of death. The release itself was disgusting, but what has happened since is like rubbing salt on the still raw wounds of those whose lives were shattered...

Who specifically authorized the worst terrorist outrage ever perpetrated in Britain? Who conceived it? Who built the bomb? And how is it, amid the new controversy over the release of the only man ever convicted in the blast, that investigators never found answers to these most fundamental of questions, and never charged those responsible? The Iran of the early 1990s was considerably more circumspect than it is today about its drive for nuclear weaponry. But it was no less ruthless in the pursuit. And that is why, on August 14, 1993, a very high level group of Iranians, including two...

Many people around the world, not just the relatives of the victims of the 270 people killed when Abdel Baset al-Megrahi blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over a Scottish town, are still furious about his release from a Scottish prison and the warm greetings extended to him when he arrived in Libya. The TV cameras showed the gala reception, Qaddafi hugging Megrahi, and Megrahi kissing the Libyan despot. Libya's leader then praised his "friend" British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the British government on Thursday for what he called their "courage" in allowing Megrahi's release. "To my friends in...

Jack Straw has reignited the row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber by admitting for the first time that trade and oil were an essential part of the Government’s decision to include him in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya. The Justice Secretary said he was unapologetic about including Abdelbaset al Megrahi in the agreement, citing a multi-million-pound oil deal signed by BP and Libya six weeks later. The admission directly contradicts Gordon Brown's insistence only days ago that oil deals were not a factor in the prisoner's release. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Straw also...

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Got to love The Nuge: Keep Gaddafi Out Of NYC 84rules September 3, 2009

The health of the Lockerbie bomber is deteriorating so fast that European cancer specialists are being flown to Tripoli in a chartered aircraft to treat him, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi's brother has told The Times. "He's in a bad situation. The last check-up was very, very bad... He's dying," said Mohammed al-Megrahi, who doubted his brother would live another month. "We are really worried about him, but it's the wish of God." Mr al-Megrahi would not, or could not, say where the specialists were coming from or who was paying for them. A Libyan government official said that al-Megrahi "has...

EDINBURGH, Scotland — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing accuations of "double-dealing" after confidential documents were released on Tuesday revealing that Libya was told Brown wanted the Lockerbie bomber to die a free man. "We did not want him to die in prison, no, we weren't seeking his death in prison," Miliband said. Al-Megrahi, 57, was the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. Scotland freed him on compassionate grounds Aug. 20 after doctors said he had terminal cancer. U.S. Justice Department spokesman Richard Kolko said Tuesday...

Libya staged a lavish spectacle Tuesday, parading white-robed horsemen and gold-turbaned dancers as jets streaked overhead to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power in the oil-rich nation. The four-day festivities were designed to highlight the volatile leader's acceptance on the world stage, but were overshadowed by new controversies about the recent return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. While African leaders held a summit to coincide with the celebrations, most Western leaders stayed away. Libya's decision to include a...

When the man convicted of murdering 270 people by blowing up Pan Am flight 103 two decades ago over Lockerbie, Scotland, was released, many in this country were rightfully outraged. On December 21st, 1988, 243 passengers, 16 crew members, and 11 people on the ground were murdered. Of these, 180 were Americans; 60 of them children. The bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, returned to Libya on August 20th with much fanfare enjoying a “compassionate release” due to his imminent demise from cancer. He had served 8 years of a 27-year sentence. Moreover, he was given an unfathomable level of compassion...

Britain's release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi-- the Libyan terrorist whose bomb blew up a plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people-- is galling enough in itself. But it is even more profoundly troubling as a sign of a larger mood that has been growing in the Western democracies in our time. In ways large and small, domestically and internationally, the West is surrendering on the installment plan to Islamic extremists. The ostensible reason for releasing al-Megrahi was compassion for a man terminally ill. It is ironic that this was said in Scotland, for exactly 250 years ago another...

Gordon Brown was not very popular before this Lockerbie disaster, but after today his popularity will be lower than George Bush at a Code Pink convention. After the mass murderer al-Megrahi was released to die in Libya, a firestorm erupted on both sides of the Atlantic. Gordon Brown swore that there was no pressure from his government placed on Scotland to release the terrorist to make despite the evidence that the homecoming was part of a quid pro quo in an Oil Deal. Today Brown was caught in a "Chris Dodd" moment as released documents show that Scotland was against...

Attorney General Eric Holder warned his Scottish counterpart in June that the man convicted of blowing US-bound Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky could get a hero’s welcome if allowed to return to Libya, according to the head of a group representing the families of victims. Holder’s warning to Scotland’s justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, came nearly two months before the bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison and greeted by a cheering crowd on his arrival in Libya last week. Notes prepared ahead of Holder’s June 26 conversation with MacAskill were provided to the Associated...

Attorney General Eric Holder warned his Scottish counterpart in June that the man convicted of blowing US-bound Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky could get a hero’s welcome if allowed to return to Libya, according to the head of a group representing the families of victims. Holder’s warning to Scotland’s justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, came nearly two months before the bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison and greeted by a cheering crowd on his arrival in Libya last week. Notes prepared ahead of Holder’s June 26 conversation with MacAskill were provided to the Associated...

The Scottish government says it will release dozens of documents relating to its decision to release the Lockerbie bomber within 30 minutes.24 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters

Evidence is mounting that the Lockerbie bomber's decision to drop his appeal against conviction was part of a secret deal ahead of his release. A leaked email suggests that Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi was quietly urged to abandon a potentially embarrassing court battle to clear his name in return for freedom.

The release by Scottish authorities of convicted Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi from prison has created one of the most negative emotional reactions in the United States and other countries. Moved by anger toward the injustice displayed by Scottish authorities to the families and survivors of the victims of the terror attack against Pan Am Flight 103, Americans and large segments of international public opinion are infuriated by the freeing of the convicted terrorist, even under the so-called Scottish legal values based on compassionate release due to terminal illness. These exceptional stipulations, when applicable, are designed for criminal cases...

If Joe Scarborough is right, this could be a game-changing blow to Barack Obama . . . On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough left no doubt that he believes the Obama administration acquiesed to the release by the British government of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the convicted Lockberbie murderer and terrorist. View video here.

From the London Times: Gordon Brown was dragged into the centre of the row over the early release of the Lockerbie bomber last night after it emerged that a key decision that could have paved the way for the terrorist to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by Downing Street. A source close to Jack Straw told The Times that the move to include Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was a government decision and was not made at the sole discretion of the Justice Secretary. "It wasn't just Jack who decided this. It...

Gordon Brown was dragged into the centre of the row over the early release of the Lockerbie bomber last night after it emerged that a key decision that could have paved the way for the terrorist to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by Downing Street. A source close to Jack Straw told The Times that the move to include Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was a government decision and was not made at the sole discretion of the Justice Secretary. “It wasn’t just Jack who decided this. It was a Government decision....

'JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al- Megrahi over fears Scotland would suffer a terrorist backlash if he died behind bars. He believed Megrahi would have been seen as a MARTYR by Islamic extremists if he had been left to die in Greenock Prison. And last night a source close to the Cabinet Secretary said: "Kenny feared the repercussions would have haunted Scotland for a generation and more. "If Megrahi had died in a Scottish jail, we'd have seen burning Saltires across the Middle East." MacAskill and SNP First Minister Alex Salmond are preparing to publish...

Many Americans, beyond the relatives of the victims of the 270 people killed, when Abdel Baset al-Megrahi blew up a jetliner over a Scottish town are furious about his release from a Scottish prison and the warm greetings extended to him when he arrived in Libya. The TV cameras showed the gala reception, Qaddafi hugging Megrahi, and Megrahi kissing the Libyan despot. Libya's leader then praised his "friend" British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the British government on Thursday for what he called their "courage" in allowing Megrahi's release. "To my friends in Scotland ... I praise their courage for...

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely critizised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

Imagine how the families of those 240 dead feel now? The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. (Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key...

The recent events in Scotland show the futility of treating a war as a criminal justice issue. Did Gordon Brown get a green light from the Obama administration to let a convicted murderer, Al Megrahi, go "scot free"? By now we all know that the Obama administration would prefer to call the War on Terror an "overseas contingency operation." And they'd prefer to pursue CIA interrogators more than they'd like to go after terrorists. All of this is in keeping with their September 10 mindset. They want to return us to the way the Clinton administration viewed terrorism-- as a...

It's one thing to argue that we shouldn't torture terrorists. It's rather another thing to let one go to a hero's welcome. In case anyone missed it, Kenny MacAskill, Justice Minister for Scotland, ordered the "compassionate release" of Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. Al-Megrahi was one of the persons responsible for the bombing Pan Am 103, which came down on Lockerbie. Two hundred and seventy people died, including eleven on the ground. Al-Megrahi was apparently suffering from prostate cancer, and was said to have had less than three months to live. That three months is apparently key under Scottish "prison guidance,"...

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill was last night under pressure to reveal more details of the medical evidence that led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, after it emerged that only one doctor was willing to say Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi had less than three months to live. Labour and Conservative politicians have demanded the Scottish Government publish details of the doctor’s expertise and qualifications, amid suggestions he or she may not have been a prostate cancer expert. The parties have also raised questions over whether the doctor was employed by the Libyan government or Megrahi’s legal team, which could...

The furore over the release of the Lockerbie bomber intensified today over the medical advice given to the Scottish government on how long he has to live. It emerged that the prognosis that Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi had a life expectancy of only three months or less was supported by an unnamed doctor who had no expertise in terminal prostate cancer. The final report on al-Megrahi’s condition which went to Kenny MacAskill was drawn up by Dr Andrew Fraser, director of health and care with the Scottish Prison Service. The three-month time limit is important because Scottish Prison Service guidance...

Here is video of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright characterizing the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Locerbie, Scotland a "terrible accident." Albright was saying we must take Britain at its word that it did not make some kind of deal to get the terrorist bomber released to return home to Libya. . . . . (Watch Video)

Officials in the US state of New Jersey have reacted angrily to the possibility that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi may pitch his tent there next month. Col Gaddafi is expected to set up his Bedouin-style tent on Libyan Embassy-owned land in the town of Englewood as he attends the UN General Assembly. The town mayor, state governor and legislators said he was not welcome. They were angered by the "hero's welcome" home given to Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi last week.