| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
ON 20 AUGUST, 2009 Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, earlier sentenced to life imprisonment for the Lockerbie bombing, the biggest terrorist act in Britain's history, was released from prison in Scotland. Fifty-seven-year-old Megrahi was freed on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill following reports that he had terminal prostate cancer and had less than three months to live. Megrahi arrived back home to national celebrations and acclaim, accompanied by the waving of Scottish flags, although only one dignitary, Saif al-Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, was there to greet him. Gaddafi received him the following day. Britain and America were outraged by this reception and by the release itself. The scandal spread and gained momentum, becoming increasingly intense as time went by.
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