Breaking: Pan Am 103 bomber is dead
Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, who was convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, has died in Tripoli, Libya. Unfortunately for his victims, he died a lot more peacefully than they did (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).Let's go to the videotape.
His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.I wonder if he's really dead.
He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.
Last month, Megrahi's son said his father had been taken to hospital for blood transfusions.
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There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.
Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.
In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."
He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the public appearance confirmed that a "great mistake" was made in releasing him from jail.
Labels: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Arab terrorism, Pan Am 103
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:27 PM
1 Comments:
There are some people who believe that the Pan Am Flt. 103 bombing was ordered by Gaddafi, but done at the behest of the Iranian Mullah Regime. This was to be revenge for the Iranian airliner shot down by the USS Vincennes in 1988, over the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War.
Had the bomb explode as planned, it would have been over the Atlantic, not over Scotland. There would have been only bits of floating wreckage and maybe some floating bodies. This would have made the terror strike untraceable.
It should be noted that the USS Vincennes was there at the behest of Gulf states, as part of the US Navy's effort to keep the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz open to tanker and other civilian traffic. It was a terrible tragedy, which the US acknowledged and apologized for.
The USS Vincennes was in a position such that it would only have at most a few minutes time to detect the danger of any potential aerial attack from Iran, challenge and warn the incoming aircraft (which it did and to which the airliner didn't respond) and take any defensive steps needed.
Just a few minutes time for all this. I'm sure all Israeli readers can appreciate what this means. Also, when the US did this, it was a terrible mistake, understandable in the circumstances, whereas when Iranian terror clients, proxies, attack civilian airliners, it's deliberate terror, mass murder.
In any event, Abdelbasset al-Megrahi is now facing the Highest Court.
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