Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi Dead: 'He Is The 271st Victim Of Lockerbie' Claims Spokesperson For Families

'Megrahi Is The 271st Victim Of Lockerbie' Claims Spokesperson For Families

David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesperson for the families of those killed in the Lockerbie disaster, has said that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's death was to be "deeply regretted."

"As someone who attended the trial I have never taken the view that Megrahi was guilty" he said.

"Megrahi is the 271st victim of Lockerbie."

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was a happily-married father of five whose underground role in the Lockerbie bombing appeared dramatically at odds with the portrait of the man living with his family in the Tripoli suburbs.

Former Labour MP Tam Dalyell, who has maintained Megrahi's innocence throughout, said: "Megrahi was a sanctions buster for Libyan Arab Airlines and the Libyan oil industry. He was not involved in the crime that was Lockerbie.

"What has still to be resolved is the behaviour of the Crown Office in suppressing information which they knew should be given to Megrahi's defence during his trial and was withheld by them."

Despite claims that he could not have worked alone, and the lingering suspicion by some that he was innocent, Megrahi was the only man ever convicted over the terrorist attack.

Megrahi was indicted in 1991 after a lengthy investigation by UK and US police forces.

In an interview published shortly after his conviction, he denied he was responsible for the bombing.

He told Arabic daily Asharq Al-Aswat: "God is my witness that I am innocent, I have never committed any crime and I have no connection to this issue."

An undated Crown Office handout of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

In a book published in February 2012, he told James Ashton, the author that he was "the innocent victim of dirty politics, a flawed investigation and judicial folly".

"You are my jury" he said, appealing to readers of the book.

Jean Berkley, whose son Alistair died in the atrocity, said Megrahi's death would not change her determination to see a full public inquiry.

Mrs Berkley said: "I would say our focus has never been on Megrahi, he is part of a much larger picture. His death does not change anything and we still want an inquiry. There are still all these unanswered questions and his death doesn't change that.

"A large part of a new book shows there is significant new evidence that needs looking at.

"I have never made Megrahi the focus of my own attentions, he is part of a strange and terrible picture that we are all caught up in."

He was freed from prison in 2009, having served nearly eight years of his 27-year-sentence, dropping his second appeal against conviction at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

The move attracted support from some victims' relatives in Britain, and high profile figures such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The father of one of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing described Megrahi's death on Sunday as a "very sad event."

"I met him last time face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain" he told Sky News.

"But he still wanted to talk to me about how information which he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death.

"And I think that's a fairly amazing thing for a man who knows he's dying to do.

Dr Swire added: "Right up to the end he was determined - for his family's sake, he knew it was too late for him, but for his family's sake - how the verdict against him should be overturned.

"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."

Dr Swire, who has always maintained Megrahi's innocence, called for Megrahi "to be left in peace to die"in October, after footage emerged of the Libyan comatose and near death, in his villa in Tripoli.

"It is obvious he is sufficiently ill and in need of pain relief and medical care. His medical treatment has been withdrawn due to the circumstances in Tripoli, and his family are saying his drugs have been stolen.

"This is a man who withdrew his appeal so that he could be allowed to die close to his family and he deserves to be left in peace for his last days."

Pam Dix, whose lost her brother Peter, 35, in the bombing said in October: "The sad things is that with the death of this man will go our chance of knowing for sure whether he was involved or not."

Ms Dix, 54, from Surrey, said that his death "closes the door. Megrahi dies a convicted man and our key to finding out what happened is gone and we will never have the opportunity to hear from him now."

However she says it was "inappropriate" to describe Megrahi as another victim of the terrorist attack.

"I don't take one view or another of him, I don't know for sure if he was involved but it is a very disturbing thing that time is marching on and we don't have answers.

"With the best will in the world, unless we get people like the Prime Minister determined to get to the bottom of it, which he is not, you can only do so much."

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