THE MAN CONVICTED of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, in which 270 people died, was transferred to hospital in Libya yesterday after his health quickly deteriorated, according to relatives.
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was brought from his home in Tripoli to a private hospital to receive a blood transfusion, his brother told Reuters.
In 2001, Megrahi became only person to ever be convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. All passengers and crew on board the plane were killed when the aircraft exploded over the town of Lockerbie in Scotland, and 11 others on the ground were killed by falling wreckage.
He was released on compassionate grounds in 2009, after doctors said that he was likely to die of prostate cancer within three months.
Megrahi was given a hero’s welcome upon his return to Libya – a fact that angered may of the victims’ families. However, not everyone who lost a loved-one in the attack is convinced of Megrahi’s role in the bombing.
Megrahi served as an intelligence officer under Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, but denied any role in alleged human rights abuses carried out by the regime.
He has rarely been seen in public since returning to Libya.
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