Libyan secret agent Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi who blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 was released from Scottish jail in August 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was serving a life sentence then but the Scottish government released him when doctors said he had less than 3 months to live, as he was then suffering from terminal stage prostate cancer. Well it’s now 6 months since his release from prison, and Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi is still alive, and apparently, living in luxury. And now the Libyan government says it is planning a $8 billion investment in Britain.
So what happened? That’s exactly the question that Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, chairman of the Commons all-party Libya group, asked in Parliament the other day. He said: “He’s still alive and we were told he had no more than three months to live. The Scottish Executive have a lot to answer for.”
Indeed relatives and loved ones of the 270 people who perished in that Lockerbie bombing believe that Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made a grave mistake in releasing Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi. This is especially so after it was revealed that the Libyan government actually paid for the fees of 3 doctors who gave the prognosis that Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi has less than 3 months’ to live.
Now expert British cancer specialist, Professor Karol Sikora who was one of the 3 examining doctors said: “I am very surprised that he is still alive. He is not receiving any active treatment. The latest information I have from Tripoli is that he is not a well man, and I suspect he will be dead within a month or so.”
But what about the earlier prognosis? A spokesman for the East Renfrewshire Council which keeps in weekly contact with Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi as part of the condition of release said: “Nobody knows. It was never that he was supposed to be dead by now, it was never a certainty, it was just the opinion of the experts.” Then he added that Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi could even “last a year or two years.”
Professor Karol Sikora proferred a theory on how Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi could have survived so long. He thinks this is due to a “psychological” boost arising from the excitment of reuniting with his family.
But Ali al-Megrahi, father of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi has his own theory. He listed 4 factors for his son’s prolonged life: home comfort, good genes, positive thinking, and alternative medicines. He said: “A close relative was diagnosed with a similar disease and he was treated and recovered completely. We hope that Abdelbaset recovers his health as well. I think that the sick are not just cured by medicine, but also by having a high morale and a sense of freedom, and these were not available to Abdelbaset in prison.” Ali al-Megrahi thinks a miracle could happen, and his son could be cured of prostate cancer.
But those who lost loved ones on Pan Am Flight 103 are not convinced. They think Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was not as sick as he made it out to be. Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am 103 said: “His people tried to have us believe he had one foot in the grave. Then to hear that he is doing quite well medically and is living in a luxury villa makes them all the more frustrated.”
Then there are those who think that the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was part of a economic deal. In May 2007 Libya awarded British oil giant BP a $900 million oil exploration contract. Did that have anything to do with the subsequent release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi last year?
Or how about this news that appeared last week? Rajab Layas, an offical from the Libyan Investment Authority told Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a conference in London that: “We have plans to invest £5 billion in Britain.” That would be $8 billion. Does this has anything to do with the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi?
Think about it. Did Britain do a deal with Libya to free convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi? He has always maintained his innocence, but Libya has acknowledged guilt and paid compensation to the families of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing. If there is such a deal (which Britain has denied previously), is it fair to those who perished? If there is no such deal, why did Libya leader Col Gaddafi described the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi last August as a step “for the benefit of relations between Britain and Libya … and will certainly be positively reflected in all fields of co-operation between the two countries?” Or how about the comments by Col Gadaffi’s son Saif al-Islam that: “In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table.”
Previous posts
Lockerbie Bomber – Now You See Him, Now You Don’t
Lockerbie Bomber – Gaddafi Met Victims
Lockerbie Bomber – Medical Reports Paid By Libya
Lockerbie Bomber – Prisoner Transfer Considered
Lockerbie Bomber – Web Of Entanglement
Lockerbie Bomber – Oil For Freedom Deal?
A Hero’s Welcome For A Mass Murderer
This is no more than the usual innuendo. Mr Megrahi is not guilty of and had no connection with the Lockerbie bombing in anyway and was imprisoned on a conclusion drawn from three planted facts all of which has been severely criticised so that even that most cautious of institutions the SCCRC has said there may have been a miscarriage of justice, a statement so understated its rather like the famous statement of the Emperor Hirohito to the Japanese people that events in WWII were not turning out to be to Japan’s advantage. Megrahi was framed.
Re. Lockerbie Bomber Still Alive As Libya Plans $8 Bllion Investment in Britain:
The fact that the Libyan agent accused of bombing Pan Am 103 is still alive does not prove that the original prognosis was wrong. THere are many cases where people have survicved a terminal disease, so why scrutinize this case?
Moreover, the relatives and loved ones of Pan Am 103 victims have already been generously compensated by Libya and received $10 million each and, therefore, cannot complain and have no more claims against the accused. The Iranian Airliner shot down by American war ships in the Arabian Gulf was never treated in a similar manner as the Pan Am 103 case even though it was clear who committed the first but not known for certain who committed the latter.
We can also argue the many cases of American soldiers as well as Blackwater mercenaries who have murdered Iraqi civilians including entire families in cold blood and have not been punished for their crimes..
THe obvious extreme bias against Muslims and double standards practiced by Western media and analysts stinks.