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Decision in Lockerbie bombing case due Thursday
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This is an undated file photo, issued by the Crown Office, of Abdel Baset al-l Megrahi, the Libyan man found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing.
EDINBURGH, Scotland — The only man ever convicted in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, was due to learn Thursday whether he will be freed on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya or die in a British prison.
British television networks Sky News and the BBC reported Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, will be released. Neither network cited the source of its information.
The Scottish government said it would announce its decision at 1 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).
Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said Wednesday he had informed the families of the bombing victims that he had made a decision.
Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of taking part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988. The airliner — which was carrying mostly American passengers to New York — blew up as it flew over Scotland. All 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground died when the aircraft crashed into the town of Lockerbie.
The former Libyan intelligence officer was sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years in a Scottish prison for Britain's deadliest terrorist attack. But a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal of his conviction, and many in Britain believe he is innocent.
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