Doubts raised after Lockerbie bomber blocks release of medical reports

TRIPOLI - ‘Terminally ill’ Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi has reportedly blocked publication of medical reports on his condition.

Seven months have passed since Megrahi was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government after doctors reported that he had terminal prostate cancer and had less than three months to live.

The Renfrewshire Council, which is in weekly contact with Megrahi under the terms of his release, had asked if his medical reports could be released, after an approach by Labour peer Lord Foulkes.

The report could be released with Megrahi’s permission, but a council official said in a letter to Lord Foulkes: “I have been advised that Megrahi does not consent to the release.”

Lord Foulkes said if the medical evidence backed up the decision to release Megrahi, then there should be no reason why it cannot be published.

“The refusal by Megrahi, his lawyers and ministers can only mean they have something to hide. It is a matter of public importance,” The Scotsman quoted Lord Foulkes, as saying.

The latest disclosure will incense many of the relatives of those who died in the bomb blast in December 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid air over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 people on the ground. (ANI)