This is now on the 1:00pm news and I cannot believe that the Scottish court can be so stupid as to let a mass murdering terrorist (270 people died in the PanAM flight) be released to go back to Libya, on compationate grounds because he has terminal cancer, after serving just 8 years of a 27 year life sentance.  How many other murders get released because of terminal cancer or other terminal illnesses?  Not many if any.

Appears to be failings that has allowed this to happen, in part the transfer of prisoner agreements, which the UK Government failed to ensure that no Libyan could not be transfered back to Libya.

I am gobsmaked....

The Scottish Justice Secretary is still speaking with a certain exasperation on this as I post.

It has now been finally confirmed that the bomber is being released on compationate grounds, although he showed now mercy when he with others killed the 270 people, the Scottish Justice Secretary has shown him considerable mercy by allowing this release.

I don´t know about Scotland but in the USA there´s a compassionate release law that is applied in most if not all states, according to which an inmate can be released from prison if disabled or has terminal illness with less than 6 mos to live.  They also would need to be disabled severely enough to pose no public risk.

We may not agree with the law, or think that it should not apply to certain people (like the one you mentioned), but it´s the law none-the-less. Maybe it has to do more with the government not wanting to pay for the expensive medical treatment of the inmate and less with mercy.

 I don´t believe there is any law of this kind in the UK, I have never heard of one.  There are plenty of terminally ill people in our prisons in the UK.

There will be plenty about it in the papers tomorrow.  I know that the Americans ad Hilary Clinton opposed his release.

I was reading a story the other day about one of the women about the Manson murders that occured back in the 1960s.  She has terminal cancer and her "compassionate release" was denied. 

I don´t understand how we as a society can have compassion expected of us when compassion was not given to the victims of a crime.  Is this supposed to be a statement of how we have evolved into a more forgiving society?  Well, to hell with it, I say!  I would rather be a barbarian than to let a monster like the Lockerby bomber be free!

My thoughts are with the families of the victims today.  This man served what....8 years for murdering their children, spouses, siblings?   And he gets compassion? 

There isn´t much more to say.  It sickens me. 

 I think this will be the thoughts of many across the US and the UK.  A decision many of us will never understand.

I don´t have  huge issues with pardons...however not for terrorists, murders or rapists.   I was astound to hear this guy got released whether he has cancer or not is irrelavant.

I´m just watching this on TV now.  He is already on a plane home.  The father of one of the victims believes it is the correct decision, but most are furious.

  Apparently the Uk government in London is distancing itself from this decision by saying ´it is nothing to do with us´.

I always thought it was a bad decision giving Scotland their own parliment.  This confirms it.

With the political interference and the stories of evidence withheld and evidence planted I doubt if we will ever find out the truth about the Lockerbie bombing. Also the revenge theory linked to the Iranian airliner blown out of the sky by an American missile 5 months earlier over the Persian Gulf with the loss of 290 lives including 66 children. Many people believe Megrahi was a scapegoat to appease bereaved relatives.

Hmmmmm....I was wondering how long it would be before someone floated a conspiracy theory. 

I agree with you for the first time bydand..

The conviction of this guy was always a bit suspicious..

And he is still maintaining his innocence!!!

Robert Fisk is one of the best middle east correspondents  of our time..

That is what he wrote about it in 2001 

And also I remember in his book of  ´The clash of civilizations´, he was mentioning that just after the incident, one of palestinian groups in Beirut was accepting the congratulations.

And also an interesting cartoon from theindependent as well:

 So you can laugh at the loss of 290 lives including 66 children GG. So much for American compassion. Incidently the commander who fired the missile was decorated for outstanding service 2 years later.

 I clearly was not laughing at the loss of life!  If you bothered to read what I posted earlier you would see that.  Why don´t you get a grip on yourself. 

What I was laughing at is people who toss out conspiracy theories left and right.  If that´s an issue for you then discuss that, don´t try to paint me as something I am not.

I was merely pointing out events leading up to the bombing and the investigation afterwards. The crash site covered a huge area and it took a long time to gather evidence, plenty of scope for interference.

 Actually until I saw the news last night I did not realise he was convicted on such scant evidence - some clothes bought in a Maltese shop found at the crash site and the owner of the shop identified him from a magazine.  That was it!  So he is probably a scapegoat.

What ever, the case has re-opened old wounds, caused a great deal of anger amongst grieving relatives and no doubt will affect relationships between US and Libya.

 I am sorry to keep on about this GG  but you say you are sickened by the release of a sick man who may or may not be guilty of planting this bomb. On the other side of the coin we have  the downing of the Iranian airliner with the loss of 224 plus 66 children and the perpetrator gets a Legion of Merit medal. Something wrong somewhere.

 Thank goodness you mentioned the shooting down of the Iranian civilian airliner, Bydand.  I was beginning to think I was going crazy - there has been no mention of it in the media, despite repeated mentions of the numbers killed in the Lockerbie bombing.   Anyone who thinks that the west is not a victim of propaganda, should finally be convinced.

Even families of the Lockerbie victims are sceptical that Al Megrahi is guilty of the bombing.  The West likes to please the punters and be seen to be doing "justice".  For further clarification please refer to "we are going Iraq and Afghanistan to get revenge for 9/11 even though this action has nothing whatsoever to do with the attack"

This is an interesting article about the topic from Robert Fisk:

For the truth, look to Tehran and Damascus  not Tripoli

..

Megrahi´s lawyers had delved deeply into his case  which rested on the word of a Maltese tailor who had already seen a picture of Megrahi (unrevealed to us at the time) so he could identify him in court ´and uncovered some remarkable evidence from the German police.

Given the viciousness of their Third Reich predecessors, I´ve never had a lot of time for German cops, but on this occasion they went a long way towards establishing that a Lebanese who had been killed in the Lockerbie bombing was steered to Frankfurt airport by known Lebanese militants and the bag that contained the bomb was actually put on to the baggage carousel for checking in by this passenger´s Lebanese handler, who had taken him to the airport, and had looked after him in Germany before the flight.

I have read all the interviews which the German police conducted with their suspects. They are devastating. There clearly was a Lebanese connection. And there probably was a Palestinian connection. How can I forget a press conference in Beirut held by the head of the pro-Syrian "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" (they were known, then, as the "Lockerbie boys") in which their leader, Ahmed Jibril, suddenly blurted out: "I´m not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. They are trying to get me with a kangaroo court."

.....

But the moment Syria sent its tanks to defend Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, all the MI6 truth-telling turned into a claptrap of nonsense about Col Gaddafi. And Gaddafi, let´s face it, was in deep trouble. Libya almost certainly was responsible for the earlier bombing of French UTA flight 772 over Chad in 1989. Why not frame him with Lockerbie too?

.....

I suspect that the truth (speak it not, Mr Miliband, for you do not wish to know) lies in Lebanon, in Damascus and in Tehran. Given your cosy new relationship with the last two cities, of course, there´s not a whimper of a chance that you´ll want to investigate this, Mr Foreign Secretary. And not much encouragement will "Mad Dog" Gaddafi give to such an undertaking, not after the gifts  oil deals, primarily, but let´s not forget the new Marks & Spencer in Tripoli  which he has given us.

Full article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/.....us-ndash-not-tripoli-1775813.html

+100000000000000000

 And, thehandsom is one of the best Turkish correspondents of our time... in fact, of ANY time .....

..Please dont make me feel shy!! 

 Awww I don´t think it is possible for someone as imperious as you to be shy

 You are sorry and yet you you are still accusing me of having no compassion for this incident?  Just because I made a comment on conspiracy theorist?????  You are so far out of field it´s ridiculous!! 

I lived in Iran and the Iranian people are very dear to my heart!

And if you think I am going to argue with you that there is "something wrong somewhere" you are sorely mistaken!!  

and handsom.........fix your damn post on 2!

 Yes handsom do as you are told, you are breaking ranks and going against the protocol here.

I was only pointing out the absurdity GG of the American indignation at the release of a man that may or may not have been a pawn in the PanAm bombing and their awarding of a medal to the guy who ordered the firing of the missile that blew up the Iranian airliner with the huge loss of life.

I am ´refusing´ to adjust it because I was ´ordered´ here!!!!

ps..I dont what breaks it really..It is not the active page anyway..

 I don´t speak for the American people...I speak for myself.  What I don´t understand is why you have taken a small comment I made about conspiracy theroists and blown it into some big thing about American compassion.    

And you keep saying this man "may or may not have" been responsible....when you can prove to me that he isn´t responsible then I will have comapssion for him. 

 It was you´re LoL smiley that did it. So speaking for yourself do you condemn the awarding of the medal to the ships commander? And why should handsom not speak for himself?

Well praise the Lord for that!!!

Guess you missed the "Innocent until proven guilty" part of USA jurisprudence?

But, despite all that controversy around him, he was proven guilty, right? I mean he was in jail for a reason (I am not discussing here whether or not the sentence was right as I don´t have enough knowledge, just the mere fact that his imprisonment meant finding him guilty)

That does seem to be the case, although, there does appear to be some controversy regarding the judgement. 

My comment was regarding this comment:
"..............you keep saying this man "may or may not have" been responsible....when you can prove to me that he isn´t responsible then I will have comapssion for him"

I don´t think it´s ever wrong to have compassion.

 What a ridiculous comment given the fact that the man was found guilty.   Guess you missed that part of the whole discussion. 

I´m not going to get into whether or not the verdict was correct...I wasn´t in the courtroom and obviously neither were you since you have just made such an inane statement in your feeble attempt to make a point against me. 

 Gee, isn´t that what I have been saying? 

Controversy...conspiracy...they go hand in hand in cases like these and there is always talk of it in high profile cases. 

Good for you alameda.   Luckily not all the world has to follow your drumbeat.

 My smiley?  Dude you read way more into those little virtual people than you should (you do know they aren´t real don´t you).  For the last time....my smiley was due to the fact that in every case someone comes out of the woodwork and calls "conspiracy".  Is that so hard to understand? 

And yes, since it is so important for you to know......and you can´t seem to grasp it from what I have already said.....yes I condemn the awarding of the medal.  Happy now? 

What the hell are you bringing handsom into this for?  I didn´t try to speak for him anymore than I tried to speak for the entire USA!  Are you gonna make a huge scene out of me telling him to fix his post too? 

Thank you for your explanation on the first point in your last post GG. On the second point when you asked thehandsom to change his post you were in fact telling him what to say.

Actually - butting in here - I´m pretty sure GG was just asking thehandsom to change the size of the cartoon he added as it was messing up the page format!

Of course -  I may be wrong

 Seems you are the one with the problem my friend!  I was simply asking handsom to fix his post because it was stretching the page.

 Nope...you got it spot on.  

Okay I´m sorry about that one GG if I got wrong impression.

I think you were WRONG..

GG was not ´asking me´ to change anything..

She was ORDERING me to do it..

She was not nice at all.. 

So bydand was absolutely right there