THE TELEGRAPH: The Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, has been released from prison in Scotland and can return to Libya a free man after serving eight years of his life sentence.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced his release on compassionate grounds in a press conference.
Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, could be on his way home within hours to spend his dying days with his family.
Sources at a military airport near Tripoli, Libya, said that the plane which will take him back home was en-route to Glasgow Airport earlier today, suggesting he could leave this afternoon.
Megrahi, 57, was convicted of killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight. Some 189 Americans were among those who died in the airliner explosion.
The decision to free him is likely to cause outrage in the United States, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped he would stay behind bars.
Mr MacAskill made the announcement at the Scottish Government's ministerial headquarters in Edinburgh. >>> | Thursday, August 20, 2009
Watch BBC video Lockerbie bomber to be released >>>
THE INDEPENDENT: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was today released from prison to die with his family in Libya.
Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, was driven from HMP Greenock in a white van escorted by three police cars, another van and five motorcycles.
The convoy set off on the 16-mile journey to Glasgow airport, where a jet was waiting to return him to Tripoli, after he was released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
Megrahi, 57, has served eight years of a life sentence for murdering 270 people when a Pan Am plane was blown up over Lockerbie in 1988.
Dozens of journalists from around the world were outside the entrance of the jail as its blue automatic door slid open to let the convicted bomber out at 2.36pm.
The convoy arrived at Glasgow airport at around at around 3.05pm. Megrahi was taken straight on to the tarmac where the plane was waiting.
After a short delay, the bomber, wearing a baseball cap, left the van and slowly walked with a stick up the stairs on to the jet.
In a move that has caused outrage in the United States, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi would now be released early from prison today.
He said Megrahi "now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power".
Mr MacAskill added: "It is one that no court, in any jurisdiction, in any land, could revoke or overrule. It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die."
In a statement that lasted more than 20 minutes, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi had shown no compassion to his victims, but added: "That alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days."
Mr MacAskill said: "I am conscious there are deeply held feelings and that many will disagree whatever my decision. However a decision has to be made.
"Scotland will forever remember the crime that has been perpetrated against our people and those from many other lands, the pain and suffering will remain forever.
"Some hurt can never heal, some scars can never fade. Those who have been bereaved cannot be expected to forget, let alone forgive. Their pain runs deep and the wounds remain." >>> Press Association | Thursday, August 20, 2009
MacAskill's full statement on Lockerbie bomber >>> Press Association | Thursday, August 20, 2009
THE INDEPENDENT: The decision to free Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was greeted with mixed reactions today.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron said: "I think this is wrong and it's the product of some completely nonsensical thinking, in my view.
"This man was convicted of murdering 270 people, he showed no compassion to them, they weren't allowed to go home and die with their relatives in their own bed and I think this is a very bad decision."
But Tam Dalyell, the former Labour MP and ex-father of the House of Commons, who has persistently claimed that Megrahi was innocent, said today: "Mr MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, has arrived at the right decision on compassionate grounds.
"I do not accept his endorsement of the guilt of Mr Megrahi, whom I continue to believe had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime of Lockerbie."
Kara Weipz, 36, who lost her student brother Rick, 20, in the atrocity, condemned the decision.
Speaking from her home in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, she said: "I think it's an absolutely horrible decision.
"I don't know how you show compassion to someone who has shown no remorse for what he has done and as Mr MacAskill praised the justice system and the investigation and the trial, how do you then show this person compassion? It's just utterly despicable.
"I think he should have died in prison. Why should he be returned to Libya?
"That's not what we were promised. We were always told he would serve out his full sentence in Scotland."
Scottish Labour criticised the decision to release Megrahi.
Labour leader and MSP Iain Gray said: "If I was First Minister, Megrahi would not be going back to Libya. The decision to release him is wrong.
"He was convicted of the worst terrorist atrocity in our history, the mass murder of 270 people.
"While one can have sympathy for the family of a gravely ill prisoner, on balance our duty is to honour and respect the victims of Lockerbie and have compassion for them.
"The SNP's handling of this case has let down Scotland." >>> Press Association | Thursday, August 20, 2009
