Lockerbie inquiry call discussed

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi Megrahi was freed after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer

A Holyrood committee is due to consider responses over a call for an independent inquiry into the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber.

The Justice For Megrahi (JFM) group handed over a petition seeking the action in October last year.

The petitions committee is to discuss submissions from the Scottish government and the JFM group.

Members of the group, including Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter at Lockerbie, are expected to attend.

About 1,500 people signed the petition seeking an independent probe into the case of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man to be convicted of the bombing which killed 270 people in 1988.

They claim it is “imperative” that the case be examined once more.

However, the Scottish government has already indicated that it has no plans to hold an inquiry and “does not doubt the safety of the conviction”.

Megrahi dropped a second appeal against his conviction in the run-up to Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision to free him on compassionate grounds in 2009.

Al-Megrahi had previously been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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