US wants Lockerbie bomber Megrahi to return to jail

LONDON - The United States has told Scottish authorities that 1988 Lockerbie bombing convict, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, should be brought back to prison to serve his term.

“”We’ve expressed our strong conviction that Megrahi should serve out the remainder - the entirety - of his sentence in a Scottish prison.” the BBC quoted President Obama’s counter terrorism adviser, John Brennan, as saying.

Brennan also added that the US had had productive discussions with Libyan officials and would use “diplomatic channels to convey their sentiments on a broad range of issues, including the one related to al-Megrahi”.

The Scottish government, however, has said that it had released Megrahi “in good faith” after receiving expert medical advice that he had only three months to live.

Megrahi received a hero’s welcome in Libya after his release from a Scotish prison in August 2009.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said in a statement on Friday that the US continued to “categorically disagree” with the decision to release Megrahi.

“As we have expressed repeatedly to Scottish authorities, we maintain that al-Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in prison in Scotland. We have and will continue to reiterate this position to the Scottish and Libyan authorities,” she said. (ANI)