Lockerbie killer 'not going anywhere'

30 August 2011 - 03:00 By Reuters
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Scotland has said that it has no plans to request the extradition of the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a US-bound airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was found guilty of bombing Pan Am flight 103 while it was en route from London to New York on December 21 1988. A total of 270 people were killed.

Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment in Scotland in 2001 but released two years ago on health grounds and returned to Libya. He was said to be suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer and was thought to have only months to live.

After some confusion over his whereabouts this week in the chaos accompanying the overthrow of long-time Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, media reported at the weekend that Megrahi was living in a palatial house in upmarket Tripoli. A reporter who saw him said he seemed to be "at death's door".

Gaddafi's fall raised hopes for Megrahi's extradition to Scotland.

However, Libya's National Transitional Council said it had no intention of agreeing to such a request.

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