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"Terminally Ill" Pan Am 103 Bomber Still Living in Libya
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 6, 2010
Modified Jul 6, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 6, 2010
Modified Jul 6, 2010
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Remember how the Scottish government justified the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi on the "compassionate" grounds that he had terminal prostate cancer and would be dead in few months? He's still kicking in Libya, and is reportedly on the mend! "There was always a chance he could live for ten years, 20 years... But it's very unusual," cancer specialist Professor Sikora told London's Sunday Times.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 243 people aboard the plane—189 of them Americans, many from NY and NJ—were killed, while 11 people on the ground died when the NY-bound jet exploded. He received a "hero's welcome" when he returned home to Libya last year, and the Sunday Times later reported that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government agreed to release him "after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards." Stay classy, BP!
When al-Megrahi was release last year, upstate NY resident Paul Halsch, whose 31-year-old wife was killed on the flight, remarked, "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."
Tagged
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
BP
libya
lockerbie bombing
pan am 103
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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