VITAL documents relating to the Lockerbie bombing are to be released by Libyan officials when they believe the country is stable enough.

The Libyan ambassador to the UK said the new government in Tripoli was preparing to release all documents on the 1988 bombing.

In an interview on the 24th anniversary of the bombing, Mahmud Nacua – whose claims have been met with scepticism from campaigners – also paid his respects to the victims and their families.

He said: "We sympathise with them, with their loss and I think our government, when we have enough time, enough security and stability, all files will be open and everyone will know what happened with that crime."

On December 21, 1988, 270 people were killed when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie.

In 2001, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was convicted of mass murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

He was released eight years later on compassionate grounds and died in May this year.

Campaigners from the Justice for Megrahi group maintain the Libyan was innocent and have been calling for an independent inquiry into the original investigation and his conviction.

Reacting to the claims by Mr Nacua, Robert Forrester, secretary of the campaign group, said the move was encouraging but added that he was sceptical.

"It is excellent news on the grounds that more openness on the part of all governments involved in this, not just Libya but Scotland, the UK and the US, is to be welcomed," he said.

"It is positive to have openness and we need a lot more of that, but maybe there is some pressure being brought to bear by what is happening at home."

Mr Forrester said the latest development had come after eight allegations were lodged by campaigners against the Crown Office, police officers and a forensic scientist for their alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice in relation to the Lockerbie bombing.

Mr Forrester said: "The timing of this is interesting on the grounds that politicians at Holyrood have just delivered something of a body blow to the Government and the Crown Office in Scotland by voting unanimously across an all-party divide in the Justice Committee to keep our petition open for an inquiry in relation to the allegations we have made."

He added: "This whole issue has been fraught with obfuscation for years, so on the plus side it would appear that one of the governments involved is intending to be more open when the circumstances allow them to be more open, which could be some time away."

Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing and was formerly the spokesman for the British relatives of Lockerbie (UK Families Flight 103), also raised doubts over the announcement.

Dr Swire said: "The place that the authorities want to look if they really want to procrastinate over this is Scotland, not Libya."

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland is facing mounting pressure to further a new investigation into the bombing, including pushing for officers from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary to visit Libya.

Scotland's top law officer has written to Libyan officials and is said to be working closely with the Foreign Office to enable this to happen.

Mr Mulholland is also facing criticism over plans to abolish the ancient law of corroboration in Scotland.

Critics claim it will lead to miscarriages of justice, but the Lord Advocate argues injustices are already taking place because the Crown cannot prosecute due to a lack of witnesses.

He said: "A miscarriage occurs when there is a wrongful acquittal, or an inability to prosecute something that clearly took place, or where there is a reasonable prospect of conviction on the evidence.

"What the public doesn't see is the cases that we can't take up, so long as the requirement for corroboration is there."

Mr Mulholland added: "My view is that the justice system is too weighted in favour of the accused."