Row as opposition demand for Lockerbie bomber's medical records

Feb 20, 2010, 11:08 GMT

London - The Scottish government was under pressure Saturday to release medical documents for the Lockerbie bomber - six months after he was released on compassionate grounds for having terminal cancer and supposedly only three months to live.

The decision to free Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in August last year was highly controversial. He had been found guilty of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270 people.

Now Labour and Conservative opposition parliamentarians in Edinburgh are demanding the full details of his medical condition be published.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: 'The decision to release Megrahi was a grave error of judgement and six months on it is also clear that it was a completely botched process.'

The original decision to release Megrahi on August 20 2009 was taken by the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill - a member of the minority Scottish National Party government in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh.

It was greeted by widespread revulsion across much of the United States, where most of the victims of Flight 103 originated from - not least after the convicted bomber was greeted by jubilant crowds when arrived back in Tripoli.

Labour's Justice Spokesman Richard Baker said: 'The public deserve to know exactly what the evidence said and I urge the justice secretary to release the medical evidence in full immediately.'

Megrahi was convicted of the bombing by a special Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands, although many doubts have been cast on the evidence against him.

He was released on compassionate grounds when doctors ruled he had less than three months to live due to the spread of his cancer.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said: 'It was the right decision for the right reasons, Mr MacAskill followed due process every step of the way and he has repeatedly expressed his deepest sympathy for the relatives of all victims of the Lockerbie atrocity.'