Move Lockerbie bomber to Muslim country - Mandela

Former South African president Nelson Mandela called yesterday for the Libyan agent convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to serve his life sentence in a Muslim country, and said a fresh appeal should be mounted against his conviction.

"It would be fair if he transferred to a Muslim country - and there are Muslim countries which are trusted by the West," Mandela told journalists after a meeting with Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.

"Megrahi is all alone. He has nobody he can talk to," he added, after the visit to Glasgow's Victorian-era Barlinnie prison, where the convicted bomber is being held in a cell on his own.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in jail himself during his long campaign against apartheid, said that although prison officials were treating Megrahi well, he was being harassed by some of the other prisoners.

But a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said there were no plans to move Megrahi out of solitary confinement.

"The nature of Megrahi's detention was what was agreed between the British government and the Libyan government and that remains the case," the spokesman said.

During his trip to Scotland, Mandela also called for a fresh appeal against Megrahi's conviction, which has been criticised by South Africa's ruling African National Congress.

"From the point of view of fundamental principles of natural law, it would be fair if he is given a chance to appeal either to the Privy Council or the European Court of Human Rights," Mandela said.

He added he hoped to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush to discuss the case. But Blair's spokesman said the premier had no plans to meet Mandela on his visit.

Mandela played a key role in persuading his close friend Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to hand over Megrahi and another Libyan suspect for trial to a special Scottish court sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.

The court found Megrahi guilty last year of blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people.

Tam Dalyell, Britain's longest-serving member of parliament, who has campaigned tirelessly on every aspect of the Lockerbie tragedy, welcomed Mandela's comments.

"I believe Mr Megrahi to be innocent," Dalyell told Reuters. "I believe there's every reason for a fresh appeal, considering the decision of the defence at Zeist not to put him in the witness box."

Dalyell, who held a long meeting with Megrahi last month, says the Libyan was "desperate" to take the stand but was talked out of it by his lawyers.

Jim Swire, a spokesman for the victims' families, declined to comment on Mandela's call for a new appeal - though he is known also to be unhappy about Megrahi's conviction - but he welcomed the visit.

"There can't be many people in the world better qualified than Mr Mandela to examine the conditions under which Mr Megrahi is being held," he told Reuters.

"As the person who did so much to make the trial possible, he must feel a sense of responsibility," he added.

Mandela has been a staunch ally of Gaddafi despite criticism at home and from some Western nations, and has criticised the West for failing to lift all sanctions against Libya since the Lockerbie trial.