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Lockerbie bomber to serve 27 years
GLASGOW, Scotland -- A Libyan intelligence agent jailed for the Lockerbie bombing must serve 27 years before being eligible for parole, a Scottish court has ruled.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, 51, was sentenced to life in 2001 for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed all 259 people on the airliner and 11 in the Scottish Borders village of Lockerbie.
Al-Megrahi maintained his innocence at his trial at a special Scottish court sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. A second Libyan was acquitted.
Monday's hearing was required under human rights laws introduced in late 2001. This requires criminals sentenced to life to be told the minimum time they must serve before they are eligible parole.
A court official told Reuters that the judges, Lords Sutherland, McLean and Coulsfield, said the prison term would be backdated to April 1999.
Al-Megrahi listened to the proceedings in the Scottish High Court through an interpreter and was separated from the public gallery by bulletproof glass.
In September of this year U.N. sanctions imposed on Libya following the Lockerbie bombing were lifted after Tripoli accepted responsibility and agreed to pay compensation.
As part of the deal Libya agreed to pay each family of the 270 victims as much as $10 million.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe...nce/index.html
GLASGOW, Scotland -- A Libyan intelligence agent jailed for the Lockerbie bombing must serve 27 years before being eligible for parole, a Scottish court has ruled.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, 51, was sentenced to life in 2001 for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed all 259 people on the airliner and 11 in the Scottish Borders village of Lockerbie.
Al-Megrahi maintained his innocence at his trial at a special Scottish court sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. A second Libyan was acquitted.
Monday's hearing was required under human rights laws introduced in late 2001. This requires criminals sentenced to life to be told the minimum time they must serve before they are eligible parole.
A court official told Reuters that the judges, Lords Sutherland, McLean and Coulsfield, said the prison term would be backdated to April 1999.
Al-Megrahi listened to the proceedings in the Scottish High Court through an interpreter and was separated from the public gallery by bulletproof glass.
In September of this year U.N. sanctions imposed on Libya following the Lockerbie bombing were lifted after Tripoli accepted responsibility and agreed to pay compensation.
As part of the deal Libya agreed to pay each family of the 270 victims as much as $10 million.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe...nce/index.html