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Life sentence for Lockerbie bomber
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SCOTTISH judges on Wednesday convicted a Libyan security official of murder and sentenced him to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
The three-judge court, wrapping up an 84-day trial at this former US army base in the Netherlands, found Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, 49, guilty of the mass killing.
Judges set a minimum sentence of 20 years, taking into account his age and the fact he would be held in a foreign jail. A special cell -- dubbed by other inmates "Gaddafi's Cafe'' -- has been prepared for him at Glasgow's tough Barlinnie prison.
Co-accused Libyan Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, 44, was acquitted and left the Scottish court, leaving Megrahi alone in the specially-built prison where he and Fahima had been held since Tripoli handed them over in April 1999.
An official source said Megrahi's mother had been taken to a Tripoli hospital after collapsing, overwhelmed by news that her son had been jailed for life.
Megrahi was security chief for Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta at the time of the bombing. Khalifa Fhimah was manager for the airline in Malta.
The two were accused of planting a suitcase containing a bomb on a flight out of Malta tagged for transfer via Frankfurt on to Pan Am Flight 103 at London's Heathrow Airport.
The bomb exploded as the New York-bound Boeing 747 flew over the town of Lockerbie, southwest Scotland, killing all 259 aboard plus 11 on the ground.
For the duration of the trial, the defendants had remained inside a custom-built prison at this camp equipped with a small mosque and Arabic satellite television.
The trial cost an estimated US$90, according to court sources with the United States picking up a large part of that tab.
However, the Lockerbie saga was far from over as the world digested the impact of the unprecedented ruling.
Britain and the United States stood side by side in demanding Libya accept full responsibility for the December 1988 bombing and pay US$700 in compensation to relatives of the 270 victims.
Libya, meanwhile, called for a complete lifting of UN sanctions imposed after the Lockerbie bombing and said it sought better relations with the United States.
"Now that the Lockerbie case is behind, we look forward with interest to improving our relations with the United States in the interests of both countries and of peace worldwide," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Chiouch told a news conference.
The UN Security Council imposed sanctions in March 1992 and toughened them in November 1993 when Tripoli refused to hand over the suspects for trial.
They were suspended when Libya complied in April 1999, but not lifted.
But London and Washington insisted it was not the end of the affair.
Britain said the verdict "confirms our long-standing suspicion that Libyan officials instigated the bombing."
US President George W Bush said the United States would maintain pressure on Libya "to accept responsibility" and compensate families. After less than two weeks in office, the Bush administration faces a major foreign policy decision on how hard to squeeze Libya.
The reaction was different elsewhere.
Egypt and Spain, notably, called for sanctions to be lifted.
The French foreign ministry welcomed the verdict, but said France hoped to expand economic ties with Libya now that "justice has been done."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the verdict was a victory for justice, but made no mention of the future of sanctions.
As for relatives, they breathed a collective sigh of relief at the verdict but remained unsatisfied.
Some claimed the defendants had merely been pawns in a wider plot.
"We've got one of them," said Betty Thomas of Wales, who lost her daughter and granddaughter.
"We've heard the who, but not the why. This is just the bottom of the pack. We want to investigate who was higher up and who paid."(SD-Agencies)
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