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| Britain |
| US opposes Lockerbie bomber release |
| 2009-08-14 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] The United States has objected to the release of a Libyan national, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who is serving life imprisonment for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. "We have made our views clear to the UK government, to other authorities, that we believe that he should spend the rest of his time in jail," State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley said. On Thursday, British media reported that al-Megrahi's release was imminent on compassionate grounds because he has been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. He would be allowed to return to his family in Libya. Susan Cohen, whose daughter was killed in the bombing, told Sky News that Megrahi's release would be "a disgrace." In 2001, three Scottish judges sitting at an extraordinary tribunal in the Netherlands had sentenced al-Megrahi, 57, to life imprisonment for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. The blast, Britain's deadliest terror attack, killed all 259 aboard and 11 people on the ground due to falling debris. Many of those on the flight were Americans traveling home for the Christmas holidays. |
| Posted by:Fred |