Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi to sue over jail 'neglect'

Free: al-Megrahi arriving home in Libya last year
12 April 2012

The family of the Lockerbie bomber is to sue over his "neglect" in a Scottish jail, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has said.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was freed from Greenock prison on compassionate grounds last year after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

The Libyan was sentenced to life in jail after his conviction for the murder of 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland.

He returned to his home country where he is said to be "very ill".

Colonel Gaddafi spoke about the bomber to staff and students at the London School of Economics over a video link on Thursday.

According to reports, he told them: "His health was not looked after in prison. He didn't have any periodic examination. I wish him a long life.

"After he passes away, his family will demand compensation because he was deliberately neglected in prison."

The decision to free Megrahi, taken by Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, sparked fury in the US and was condemned by President Barack Obama's administration.

Meanwhile a group of campaigners in the UK is calling for an independent inquiry into his conviction.

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