Lockerbie bomber's lawyers 'coming to Malta'

A delegation from the Scottish Crown is expected in Malta to request permission to view sensitive documents that might change the verdict of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali Al-Megrahi.

Scottish newspaper The Herald revealed on Friday how a delegation is expected soon to "actively seek the consent for disclosure" of sensitive documents which Mr Megrahi's defence lawyers believe will help free their client.

Mr Megrahi, who is terminally ill, was convicted of blowing up a Pan Am jumbo jet as it flew from London to New York on Dec. 18, 1988, killing all 259 people on board, including 189 Americans. Eleven residents of the town of Lockerbie were killed by falling wreckage.

Last November, he asked the court to grant him bail because he suffered from prostate cancer. The court refused his request but said it was ready to consider it if his condition worsened.

According to The Herald, previously undisclosed documents at the Edinburgh criminal appeal court revealed that the Scottish police recommended to US authorities that Tony Gauci, who was the main witness, should receive $2 million while his brother $1 million.

Mr Gauci's evidence was crucial to Mr Megrahi being found guilty as he identified the burned remnants of items that the Libyan national allegedly bought at his Sliema shop.

Mr Gauci never gave comments to the press on the matter.

Mr Megrahi, 56, a former Libyan intelligence agent, was convicted in 2001 after a trial held in The Netherlands under Scottish law and sentenced to life in prison. An initial appeal was rejected in 2002. He is held at Greenock prison in Scotland.

However, in 2007, a Scottish criminal review body decided that he was entitled to another appeal on the ground that he might have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

This week, Mr Megrahi's lawyers began a challenge to demand undisclosed material they believe will help free their client at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Libya has paid out over $3.2 billion to the families of victims of the bombing.