Lockerbie bomber released

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has been released on compassionate grounds by Scottish authorities.

Al-Megrahi is the only person to be convicted in relation to the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed 270 people. Mr Megrahi is suffering from terminal prostate cancer and experts say that he would be dead within a few months.

Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, announced his decision at a press conference in which he said Scottish people "pride ourselves on our humanity" and that "the perpertration of an atrocity, an outrage, can not and should not be a bassis for losing sight of who we are, the values we seek to uphold and the faith and beliefs by which we seek to live."

He continued to say "Our justice system demands that judgement be imposed, but compassion be available."

The decision has sparked condemnation in the US, a White House statement said it "deeply regretted" the decision to release Megrahi and several victims' families have expressed their anger and outrage. However, in the UK, opinion is divided on whether al-Megrahi should have been freed.

Kara Weitz of New Jersey, whose 20 year old brother was killed in the bombing, described the release as "utterly disgusting". Paul Halsch of New York, whose 31-year-old wife was killed, said "This might sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way my wife Lorraine was and that would be in a box."