Analysis: Lockerbie bomber released

LONDON — Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person ever convicted of the bombing of flight Pan Am 103, was released from a Scottish prison Thursday. The announcement was made by Scotland's Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill.

MacAskill said he was releasing Megrahi on "compassionate grounds." The convicted man has terminal prostate cancer and the current prognosis of his survival is three months or less. The justice minister told reporters the Scots "are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity." He added: "We believe justice be served but mercy be shown."

The decision was made in the face of intense private and public pressure from senior U.S. officials. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lobbied against the release right up to the last minute. She told reporters yesterday, "It is inappropriate. I am very much against it. I take this very personally. I think it is absolutely wrong."

Last week, six U.S. senators including John Kerry and Ted Kennedy sent a letter to MacAskill demanding that Megrahi remain in prison.

The decision is just the latest moment of controversy in a two decades long saga.

Pan Am 103 was blown out of the skies over Lockerbie Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988. All 259 people aboard the plane and 11 on the ground were killed. Most of the victims were either American or British, and over the years a split has developed between the two sides over the way justice should be pursued. The split comes from two very understandable needs of the victims' families: the need for punishment and the need for truth. In this case these needs were in conflict. Most of the American families wanted punishment. Susan Cohen, whose daughter died in the atrocity, told the BBC last week, "Any letting out of Megrahi would be a disgrace. It makes me sick, and if there is a compassionate release then I think that is vile." Her view is typical among American families.

But Dr. Jim Swire, a Briton who also lost a daughter, believes Megrahi is innocent. "Two wrongs don't make a right," he told the BBC. "The horror of Lockerbie plus the horror of this man dying away from his family don't make one right."

Swire, heads the group representing victim families in Britain. Over the years, the retired physician has become a lightning rod for the anger of victims' families in the U.S. He is acutely aware of the distress his views cause. "I don't want to make life worse for those who lost family members but forgive me, I want the truth."