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TRIPOLI, Libya – The former Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, has died in Libya, his brother told AFP on Sunday. "He died an hour ago," Abdelhakim al-Megrahi said, putting the time of death at shortly after 1:00pm local time. The UK Foreign Office could not confirm the report Sunday, however it said it was "seeking further information." Megrahi, 60, was convicted in a Scottish court in 2001 for his role in the December 1998 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Most of those killed in the bombing of the Boeing 747...

The Lockerbie bomber has been given an emergency blood transfusion following a sudden deterioration in his health, his brother revealed last night. Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal cancer, was taken from his home in Tripoli to the intensive care unit of a private hospital. The news came less than a fortnight after he celebrated his 60th birthday. He was released from prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds with three months to live, but has survived for more than two-and-a-half years. … Last night, Megrahi's condition was not known, but his wife Aisha was...

Koussa fled Libya to Britain on March 30, seeking refuge after quitting Gaddafi's government, reportedly to show his support for the Libyan rebel uprising and to protest against attacks by Gaddafi's forces on civilians. He was questioned by Scottish police over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, but has not been under any travel restrictions. In a statement issued Thursday, Britain's Treasury said Koussa had been deleted from the EU financial sanctions list, removing a freeze on his assets. "We have done that -- it sends a powerful signal to other potential defectors that, if they are currently on a list, they...

Ministers secretly advised Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan regime how to secure the successful early release of the Lockerbie bomber, documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph have disclosed. A Foreign Office minister sent Libyan officials detailed legal advice on how to use Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. The Duke of York is also said to have played a behind-the-scenes role in encouraging the terrorist’s release. The Libyans closely followed the advice which led to the controversial release of Megrahi – who was convicted of the murder of 270 passengers on Pan...

A source close to the family of the Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset al Megrahi told Sky News Thursday his death is imminent and every day is "expected to be his last." Suffering from prostate cancer, the Libyan's health has rapidly deteriorated -- and his relatives said he has been in a coma and on life support for around a week. Al Megrahi -- who was convicted of killing 270 people by bombing a Pan Am jet in 1988 -- has been unable to walk for a number of weeks and is not expected to recover.

Britain feared that Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi could “cut us off at the knees, just like the Swiss”, unless the Lockerbie bomber was released, leaked WikiLeaks cables show. Sir Vincent Fean, the UK's ambassador to Tripoli at the time, also warned that continuing to hold Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi in a prison in Scotland could have “disastrous implications for British interests in Libya”. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988. He was freed on compassionate grounds in August 2009. The warnings were contained in secret communiqués sent from US embassy staff...

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has made an outspoken attack on the United States over the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the Scottish government was right to free Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi last year on compassionate grounds. US lawmakers want Scottish politicians to explain to a Senate committee their decision to release Megrahi. But the cardinal said ministers should not go crawling to the US like lapdogs. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish government's justice secretary, released Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, after being told that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of his life...

TWO CHEERS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION ON MEGRAHI Powerline blog     We noted yesterday the controversy over the Obama administration's reaction to Scotland's proposed release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohment al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, i.e., the claim that he was about to die. Foreign newspapers quoted a letter from a U.S. Embassy official in London, Richard LeBaron, which said that the U.S. would prefer that Megrahi not be released, but that if he were to be let go, the Obama administration thought it was "far preferable" to free Megrahi than have him transferred to a Libyan jail. On its...

Terrorism: The administration says it was surprised and angry at the Lockerbie bomber's "compassionate" release. Now a letter reveals that it actually lobbied for it. Was this malicious intent or mere incompetence? Last week, at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, President Obama was asked what he thought about a possible Senate investigation into the "Lockerbie bomber stuff" — namely that British Petroleum, among its other sins, lobbied the British government to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi in order to win oil contracts from the Libyan government. Obama replied: "I think all of us...

Scottish officials say US memo giving grudging support to freeing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi undermines president's criticisms Barack Obama is under growing pressure to release a letter that reveals the US grudgingly supported freeing the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds. The letter was sent to Scottish ministers by a senior diplomat at the US embassy in London last August, eight days before Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from prison because he was dying from inoperable prostate cancer. Obama's administration has refused to allow publication of the letter, in which the US says allowing Megrahi to live at home in Scotland would be "far...

David Cameron is to order the release of secret Government documents disclosing how BP pushed Labour ministers to agree to a controversial deal which led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The release of the confidential memos and letters could pave the way for a full British inquiry into the alleged involvement of the oil giant in the release last year of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer.

It was the worst terrorist attack in Britain's history, the deadliest assault on U.S. civilians until 9/11 and a political powder keg that roiled governments around the world. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold of Pan Am Flight 103, a jetliner flying from London to New York. Within less than a minute, the Boeing 747 splintered into thousands of pieces and fell 31,000 feet, smashing down in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland. The impact killed 11 villagers and destroyed 21 homes. None of the 259 people on board the aircraft survived. On August 21,...

Freed from his life sentence, the Lockerbie bomber was sent home by the Scots on compassionate grounds because he had 'just three months' to live. But six months later, Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi is still living - and doing it in the lap of luxury. Yesterday, his elderly father even held out the prospect of him beating the prostate cancer that doctors said would kill him by last Christmas. Mr Ali al-Megrahi believes that good genes, 'positive thinking' and alternative medicines could explain his son's remarkable survival. Megrahi, 57, no longer receives hospital treatment after ending a course of chemotherapy....

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is living with his family in a luxury villa in Libya six months after he was released from jail on compassionate grounds because he had less than three months to live. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, no longer receives hospital treatment after ending the course of chemotherapy that he had been given after returning to his homeland last August. Professor Karol Sikora, the London-based doctor who examined Megrahi and predicted he would be dead by last October, admitted this weekend that the fact the bomber is still...

The council charged with monitoring the health of the Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi has refused to publish details of his medical condition, angering families of his victims. Al-Megrahi, East Renfrewshire Council has claimed, has a right to confidentiality and should be treated like any other former prisoner. The Lockerbie bomber, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was released on compassionate grounds on August 21 last year after Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said that al-Megrahi was thought to have less than three months left to live. Six months on, opposition MSPs, have been calling for evidence...

UK Families Flight 103, the relatives' campaign group, will use human rights laws in a bid to uncover the truth about the terrorist attack, which claimed 270 lives in December 1988. The group has hired Gareth Peirce, the prominent human rights solicitor better known for her work representing terror suspects, to devise a legal strategy to secure the inquiry for which families have long campaigned. It is the first time the families have formally hired lawyers to pursue an inquiry. The development comes after Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, rejected the group's latest demands for an independent review of the...

Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset al-Megrahi's health is deteriorating, according to a Libyan hospital source. The 57-year-old arrived at the hospital on Saturday coughing and vomiting, the statement said. "A scan has shown a worsening of the disease which has spread more than before," it added.

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital. Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis. Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic...

It was the worst terrorist attack in Britain's history, the deadliest assault on U.S. civilians until 9/11 and a political powder keg that roiled governments around the world. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold of Pan Am Flight 103, a jetliner flying from London to New York. Within less than a minute, the Boeing 747 splintered into thousands of pieces and fell 31,000 feet, smashing down in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland. The impact killed 11 villagers and destroyed 21 homes. None of the 259 people on board the aircraft survived. On August 21,...

Gordon Brown was told last night that he must seek the immediate return of the Lockerbie bomber to Britain. A senior senator in the United States has written to the Prime Minister to protest that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's early release on compassionate grounds on August 20 was granted on the assumption he had only three months to live. Charles Schumer said that period had now elapsed and there was speculation that the severity of the Libyan's condition had been exaggerated. There is growing pressure for all of Megrahi's medical papers to be published, as well as monthly updates...