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Washington says Scotland wrong to release Lockerbie bomber

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MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - Washington said on Thursday that it regretted Scotland's decision to release on compassionate grounds the former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

"The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement shortly after al-Megrahi had boarded a flight to Libya.

Al-Megrahi has prostate cancer and is thought to have days to live, a Scottish court was told on August 18.

"As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland," Gibbs said.

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of organizing the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. The plane exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. 170 victims of the bombing were U.S. citizens.

Al-Megrahi was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years behind bars in 2001.

In April, Britain and Libya signed an agreement on the exchange of prisoners. In May, Libyan authorities officially requested the transfer of 57-year-old al-Megrahi to Libya on health grounds.

Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2005 and said it would pay some $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of those who died in the bombing. The move led to the lifting of sanctions against Libya and was instrumental in the restoration of ties between the North African state and the West.

 

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