THE man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing appeared to be close to death last night at his home in Tripoli.
The discovery came as the leader of the rebel forces who drove Colonel Gaddafi from power declared they will not hand over to the West Abdelbasset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.
Megrahi -- suffering from terminal prostate cancer -- was reported to be comatose, surviving on oxygen and an intravenous drip.
According to US broadcaster CNN, the family rescued him from hospital a few days ago and took him home.
“There is no doctor. There is nobody to ask. We don’t have any phone line to call anybody,” his son Elmegarhi said.
Megrahi’s health appeared to have deteriorated considerably since The Herald visited him in his Tripoli home two years ago today.
It was reported that Megrahi’s house had been ransacked by looters and all his medicine had been taken away.
His son said he had no idea how much longer his father had to live, but that Megrahi should be able to live his last few days in peace at home .
The Libyan’s whereabouts had been unknown until last night as he was believed to have fled his home while rebels battled with Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists in the streets of Tripoli.
Meanwhile, Mohammed al Alagi, the Justice Minister for the National Transitional Council (NTC), said Megrahi is a Libyan citizen and will not be extradited to either the US or Britain under the new regime.
His statement raises a huge question mark over the Scottish Government’s ability to recall Megrahi, who was released from prison on compassionate grounds two years ago but has to meet strict conditions to ensure his freedom.
Politicians in both the UK and the US have called for Megrahi to either face a second trial or be returned to prison. Scottish doctors had expected the 59-year-old, suffering from terminal prostate cancer, to survive just three months.
Foreign Secretary William Hague had earlier played down comments by junior NTC members that extraditions would be blocked, insisting they were not the “last word”.
However, last night Mr Alagi became the most senior figure so far to rule out handing individuals over as he sought to draw a line between the new rulers of Libya and the defeated regime. It puts Britain and the new Libyan Government at loggerheads over whether Megrahi and a Libyan suspected of shooting dead WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in 1984 could be extradited.
Mr Alagi said: “We will not give any Libyan citizen to the West. Al Megrahi has already been judged once and he will not be judged again. We do not hand over Libyan citizens -- Gaddafi does.”
Robert Forrester, secretary of the Justice for Megrahi campaign, welcomed the NTC statement, adding that there are “no grounds” for Megrahi to be extradited.
He said: “It’s worth bearing in mind that Libya does not extradite its citizens. The fact Mr Megrahi went on trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was because he agreed to do so voluntarily, fully expecting to be acquitted.
“Clearly, it’s quite refreshing to hear the Libyan Government is sticking to its word. We must also remember that Mr Megrahi is a Scottish prisoner who has been tried and convicted and released on licence, so there are no grounds for him to be extradited in any case.”
However, American Jack Flynn, whose
son JP was one of 270 people killed when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, said the latest development appeared to dash hopes relatives of victims of the atrocity would see Megrahi back behind bars.
He said: “We were hopeful he would be returned to prison, but it looks like that is not going to be the case.
“But now it’s more important we see someone else from Gaddafi’s regime give evidence that he was the one who ordered the bombing. The situation in Libya has opened up more avenues for those seeking justice.”
Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, Megrahi’s co-accused who was cleared of mass murder, yesterday said Gaddafi should be tried over whether he ordered the atrocity.
He said: “I don’t know whether Gaddafi had anything to do with Lockerbie or not. There is a court and he is the one to explain whether he is innocent or not. .”
Gaddafi’s spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, was earlier quoted as saying Gaddafi was still in Libya and wanted to discuss forming a transitional government with the NTC. But Mr Hague described his comments as “delusional”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said it was in contact with the NTC in London, and “any change in Megrahi’s circumstances would be a matter for discussion with them as the duly constituted and legitimate Government of Libya”.
