Lockerbie case shut, Libya says, after UK seeks help

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

TRIPOLI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The Lockerbie case is closed, Libya's interim justice minister said on Monday, apparently rebuffing a UK request for help which could lead to others, even deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, being charged over the 1988 airliner bombing.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Crown Office said earlier on Monday that it had asked the caretaker National Transitional Council (NTC) to make available any documentary evidence and witnesses because the attack remained an open enquiry.

Asked for his response at a news conference, Mohammed al-Alagi told reporters: "The case is closed."

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan agent, was convicted of the bombing which killed 270 people. Scotland released him on compassionate grounds in 2009 and sent him home to Libya because he was suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer and thought to have months to live.

Read more: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/lockerbie-case-shut-libya-says-after-uk-seeks-help?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Muskypundit]

1. What a bunch of idiots

It would seem like if they wanted information out of him they would have asked oh, you know, all the years they had him in THEIR jurisdiction sitting in jails in THEIR country. Or.... not have released him in the first place?

Folks, it doesnt get much more stupid than this.

[dipsydoodle]

2. You're missing the point

The Scots regard it as an open case only because they were on the verge of declaring a mistrial when he was released. Only opening it up again would gain access to evidence not produced at his original trial.

Suggest you search the subject.

[makhno]

3. Can't help but chuckle at this

An apparent miscommunication somewhere in the British bureaucracy about the specific conditions under which HM Forces intervened in this little festering dispute among the natives.

Be thankful to have received a payout before NATO deposed Gadaffi. I doubt the NTC would've been so forthcoming with admissions of national guilt.

Idiots.

[Denzil_DC]

4. A good starting point for making sense of the Lockerbie case

is Professor Robert Black's blog at http://lockerbiecase.blogspot.com/

If you look into his background, Black was entrusted with setting up the original Kamp Zeist trial, and has since been a stalwart campaigner against the conduct of the trial and for the search for truth

[customerserviceguy]

5. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

I never expected any part of this so-called "Arab Spring" to bring about any true justice, but only to replace one pigheaded regime with another one.

[dipsydoodle]

6. There now seems to be doubt about the accuracy of this report

Search for later news.

[Bosonic]

7. Sounds like someone got a phonecall

or the NTC don't know the arse from their elbow (again).

Libya 'will aid' Lockerbie probe

Libyan authorities have said they will co-operate with Scottish prosecutors and police investigating the Lockerbie bombing, the Foreign Office said.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) has reassured the UK Government after reports suggested Libya's interim justice minister had said the Lockerbie bombing case was "closed".

Mohammed al-Alagi was asked for his response at a press conference after Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC requested that Libyan authorities hand over any information that could lead to a second trial over the atrocity, which killed 270 people in December 1988.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie. According to reports, Libya's interim justice minister Mohammed al-Alagi, responding to news of the request, told a press conference in Tripoli: "The case is closed."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ic9edzCrATEzModOxvJdXrG_FGIA?docId=N0594921317035498609A

[dipsydoodle]

8. I picked that up on tv news ticker

here in the UK just minutes ago. I'm using a tablet on the sofa and didn't how to sort a link for you. :hi:

[pinboy3niner]

9. Apparently, this isn't just about a re-do on Megrahi

Scottish prosecutors had asked Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) to give them access to papers or witnesses that could implicate more suspects, possibly including deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KQ15B20110926?sp=true