After stepping down from his position, Libya’s ex-justice minister (Abdel-Jalil) last week claimed that Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing. The Lockerbie Bombing occurred in 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland killing all passengers on board and 11 on the ground. Abdel-Jalil stated that Gaddafi personally gave the order for the attack to Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing. Though Gaddafi paid reparations to the families of the victims, he has not taken personal responsibility for the attack.
Al-Megrahi, who is still alive today, was released from Scottish prison in 2009 because he was suffering from prostate cancer and would not live much longer.
Gaddafi who is known for his oppressive and violent regime, had renounced terrorism and has been trying to get Libya to be part of the international community. It is also known that Gaddafi’s regime have been tied to international terrorism in the past. What will be the repercussions if the allegations can be proven true? It will also be interesting to see the media coverage on this issue.
Also, how can the scottish government let a convicted man, one of those responsible for killing over 250 people walk free, even if he is suffering from a fatal illness? I wonder if the same leniency would have been granted if it was an American. Eventhough there are those that believe that al-Megrahi was not involved and it was really an Iranian backed terrorist organization responsible for the bombing, the scottish government should not have let al-Megrahi walk free.
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