Gaddafi denies any deal in release of Lockerbie bomber India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has denied rumours that Libya and Scotland Government had made a deal to release the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. In an interview to a news channel, Gaddafi claimed that Megrahi was freed from a prison in Scotland due to his illness. "It is very clear, he had this illness and consequently they were compelled to release him because of this disease. There was no deal or anything else," The Daily Star quoted Gaddafi, as saying. Megrahi is an alleged former Libyan intelligence officer, head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Scotland after being convicted of 270 counts of murder for his part in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. However, he was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government last month following reports that he had terminal prostate cancer and had less than three months to live. Since then both the Scottish and UK Governments have strongly denied suggestions that his release may have been linked to a trade deal.