A Libyan man jailed over the 1988
Lockerbie aeroplane bombing has been
given the right to appeal against his
conviction.
The independent Scottish Criminal
Cases Review Commission said on
Thursday that it would refer Abdel
Basset al-Megrahi's case to the High
Court, a step taken in cases where
there is a possible miscarriage of
justice.
The former Libyan intelligence agent
has been serving a life sentence in
Scotland after being convicted in 2001
of the bombing of the Pan Am flight
which killed 270 people.
"The commission is of the view,
based upon our lengthy investigations,
new evidence we have found and other
evidence which was not before the
trial court, that the applicant may
have suffered a miscarriage of
justice," the panel said in a
statement summarising its 800-page
report.
Al-Megrahi, who was tried in the
Netherlands, was convicted while his
Libyan co-defendant was acquitted.
'Uncertainties'
The three Scottish judges,
acknowledged the difficulty of the
evidence, when they issued their
verdict.
"My view is that no reasonable
tribunal, applying the rules of
evidence, law and procedure, could and
should have convicted him"
Robert Black, law professor at the
University of Edinburgh
"We are aware that in relation to
certain aspects of the case there are
a number of uncertainties and
qualifications," they said.
"However,... we are satisfied
that the evidence... does fit together
to form a real and convincing
pattern."
The judges decided that the evidence
showed the bomb was placed aboard a
plane in Malta.
It was then transferred onto a Pan Am
'feeder' flight at Frankfurt before
ending up on Flight 103 from London
Heathrow to New York on December 21,
1988.
Critics have questioned the
reliability of the witness who
identified Megrahi, the forensic
evidence and whether the bomb was
really loaded in Malta or at Heathrow.
"My view is that no reasonable
tribunal, applying the rules of
evidence, law and procedure, could and
should have convicted him,"
Robert Black, a law professor at the
University of Edinburgh, said.
Compensation
Libya has paid more than $2 billion in
compensation to victims' relatives
since telling the United Nations in
2003 it "accepts responsibility
for the actions of its
officials".
The North African country has been
seeking international rehabilitation
after Washington had branded it for
years a rogue state but lawyers and
analysts say that the carefully worded
formula could enable Libya to deny any
role if al-Megrahi's conviction is
overturned.
Some believe it may even demand
compensation from the United States
and Britain.