Malta will not probe Lockerbie star witness

Nov 1, 2009, 11:23 GMT

Valletta, Malta - The Maltese government said on Saturday it 'is not prepared' to investigate the testimony of the key Lockerbie trial witness, despite claims his evidence wrongly incriminated the Libyan man convicted of the bombing.

The Justice Ministry was forced to issue a denial after British newspaper The Daily Telegraph quoted unnamed Maltese official legal sources saying Malta wanted to look at Tony Gauci's claims.

The ministry said in a statement: 'The government categorically denies that any government official said that the Maltese government is preparing to look into the testimony Maltese national Tony Gauci gave during the trial. The Maltese government is not prepared to do any such thing.'

Gauci, a shopkeeper, had identified Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Al- Megrahi as the man who bought clothes from his shop later found wrapped around the Lockerbie bomb.

His testimony was key to the decision that held the Libyan responsible for the explosion aboard a Pan Am 747 that killed 270 people as it flew over the Scottish village of Lockerbie en route to New York in December 1988.

Documents published recently by Al-Megrahi's lawyers claim that after the trial Gauci was paid a sum 'in excess of 2 million dollars,' while his brother Paul was paid 'in excess of 1 million dollars' for their cooperation.

Gauci's evidence had strengthened the prosecution's claim the bomb left from Luqa airport in a suitcase boarded onto an Air Malta flight bound for Germany.

Despite not being prepared to probe Gauci, the Maltese government maintained the bomb that downed Pan Am flight 103 had not departed from Malta, adding that 'ample proof of this was produced.'

Last week, Hans Kochler, the UN monitor of the original trial, told The Sunday Times of Malta that the Maltese government should launch an inquiry into the Lockerbie case and question Gauci.

Al-Megrahi, who suffers from advanced prostate cancer, was released from a Scottish jail last August on compassionate grounds after being given a few months to live. He returned to Libya and protested his innocence.