Lockerbie bomber returns to Libya
The Lockerbie bomber has left Scotland on board a plane bound for Libya after being freed from prison on compassionate grounds.
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988.
The decision to release Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was made by the Scottish Government.
The White House said it "deeply regretted" the decision and some of the US victims' families reacted angrily.
A police convoy left Greenock Prison, where Megrahi was serving his sentence, more than an hour after the announcement of his release was made.
He was taken to Glasgow Airport to board the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus plane bound for Tripoli, which took off shortly before 1530 BST.
The government said it had consulted widely before Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made his decision on applications for Megrahi's compassionate release or his transfer to a Libyan jail.
He told a media conference on Thursday that he had rejected the application for a prisoner transfer. However, after taking medical advice it was expected that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of the time Megrahi had left to live. He ruled out the option of the Libyan being allowed to live in Scotland on security grounds.
And Mr MacAskill stressed that he accepted the conviction and sentence which had been handed to Megrahi.
"Mr al-Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them," he said. "But that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days."
Mr MacAskill continued: "Our justice system demands that judgement be imposed, but compassion be available. "For these reasons and these reasons alone, it is my decision that Mr Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and be allowed to return to Libya to die."
Mr MacAskill had been under intense pressure from the US government to keep Megrahi behind bars, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying his release would be "absolutely wrong".
"Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs the we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people - no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated," he added.
Some 189 Americans were among those who died in the airliner explosion.
Reacting to the decision, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement: "The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi.
"As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland."
The families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing reacted angrily to the news.
Kara Weipz, of Mt Laurel, New Jersey, who lost her 20-year-old brother Richard Monetti, said: "I don't understand how the Scots can show compassion. It is an utter insult and utterly disgusting.
"It is horrible. I don't show compassion for someone who showed no remorse."
New York state resident Paul Halsch, whose 31-year-old wife was killed, said of Mr MacAskill's decision: "I'm totally against it. He murdered 270 people.
Megrahi was convicted of murder in January 2001 at a trial held under Scottish law in the Netherlands.
A first appeal against that verdict was rejected the following year.
However, in 2007 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission granted him a second appeal.
It subsequently emerged he was suffering from terminal cancer but a bid to have him granted bail was refused.
His second appeal got under way this year but shortly afterwards applications were made for both his transfer to a Libyan jail and release on compassionate grounds.
Reaction: Lockerbie bomber set free
The release on compassionate grounds of the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has divided opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was serving life in prison for murdering 270 people when Pan Am flight 103 exploded in 1988, was freed by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill because he has terminal prostate cancer.
KARA WEIPZ, SISTER OF VICTIM
Ms Weipz, from Mount Laurel, New Jersey, lost her student brother Rick, 20, in the atrocity, and condemned the decision to release Megrahi.She said: "I don't know how you show compassion to someone who has shown no remorse for what he has done and as Mr MacAskill praised the justice system and the investigation and the trial, how do you then show this person compassion? It's just utterly despicable. "I think he should have died in prison. Why should he be returned to Libya? That's not what we were promised. We were always told he would serve out his full sentence in Scotland.
DAVID CAMERON, CONSERVATIVE LEADER
The Tory leader said he believed the decision to release Megrahi was the result of "some completely nonsensical thinking". "This man was convicted of murdering 270 people, he showed no compassion to them, they weren't allowed to go home and die with their relatives in their own bed and I think this is a very bad decision," he added.
IAIN GRAY, SCOTTISH LABOUR LEADER
Mr Gray said, if he was first minister of Scotland, Megrahi would not be going home. "He was convicted of the worst terrorist atrocity in our history, the mass murder of 270 people," said Mr Gray. "While one can have sympathy for the family of a gravely ill prisoner, on balance, our duty is to honour and respect the victims of Lockerbie and have compassion for them. The SNP's handling of this case has let down Scotland."
TAM DALYELL, FORMER LABOUR MP
Mr Dalyell, a former father of the House of Commons, has consistently claimed Megrahi is innocent. He said: "Mr MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, has arrived at the right decision on compassionate grounds. "I do not accept his endorsement of the guilt of Mr Megrahi, whom I continue to believe had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime of Lockerbie."
REV IAN GALLOWAY, CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
Mr Galloway said the decision "sent a message to the world about what it is to be Scottish", and predicted it would be a "defining moment for all of us".
He said: "We are defined as a nation by how we treat those who have chosen to hurt us. Do we choose mercy even when they did not chose mercy? "This was not about whether one man was guilty or innocent. Nor is it about whether he had a right to mercy but whether we as a nation, despite the continuing pain of many, are willing to be merciful. "I understand the deep anger and grief that still grips the souls of the victims' families and I respect their views, but to them, I would say justice is not lost in acting in mercy. Instead our deepest humanity is expressed for the better. To choose mercy is the tough choice and today our nation met that challenge."
JIM SWIRE, FATHER OF VICTIM
Mr Swire's daughter Flora was killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. He has always believed Megrahi was not involved, and said he was "delighted" the Libyan had been set free. "I think the whole process was a political stitch up from start to finish, which is something that needs to be gotten to the bottom of. Iran's involvement has never been properly laid out," he said. "'I'd be astonished, but delighted, if we ever get to the bottom of the political implications behind the bombing and who carried it out."
FRANK DUGGAN, PRESIDENT OF VICTIMS OF PAN AM 103
Mr Duggan, president of a group which represents the families of American victims of the bombing, said: "My understanding is that the man [Megrahi] really is within three months of dying, which is one of the issues we wanted cleared up. At the same time, we have always maintained he should remain in prison in Scotland and die there if it comes to that. "I understand, though, the Libyan government has given assurances there will be no celebratory reactions on the part of the Libyans when Megrahi gets back. We were all afraid this guy would go back to a hero's welcome."
OLIVER MILES, FORMER UK AMBASSADOR TO LIBYA
Mr Miles said he did not believe the decision would have a "greater wider significance" to UK-Libyan relations. "It removes an irritant, but it wasn't a great irritant, I don't think it is going to give us lots of lovely new business and I don't think the problem as it stood was stopping us getting lots of lovely new business," he said. "If he died in prison, that would be a very serious matter. The process of normalisation has been going since the mid-1990s. It is a long, long process and this is just one part of it." Referring to the US government, which had been pressuring the Scottish Government not to release Megrahi, Mr Miles added: "I am dismayed to see them behaving like this."
TAVISH SCOTT, SCOTTISH LIB DEM LEADER
Mr Scott said: "The real lesson of this shambles for the SNP is that government is about responsibility, not publicity. We've endured a simply dreadful two weeks as Kenny MacAskill dithered over this big decision while the SNP spin machine was in overdrive. "I feel sorry for the victims' families who have been put through this charade. They are unlikely to hear the truth of the wheeling and dealing that has gone on. Many also would have wanted to see the Megrahi appeal run its course."
