Lockerbie bomber attends rally in Libya

The man convicted of killing 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing has been seen on Libyan television.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison al-most two years ago on compassionate grounds, after serving nearly eight years of a 27-year sentence.

Four days before Christmas in 1988, the Pan Am Flight 103 travelling from London to New York was targeted in a bomb attack, causing it to crash in Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway.

In footage seen by the BBC, a television presenter introduced Mr Megrahi at what appears to be a pro-government rally, and said his conviction was the result of a “conspiracy”.

He also said his release had been a victory against oppression.

It was reported that during the apparently live broadcast, Mr Megrahi was in a wheelchair.

He returned to Libya after being freed in August 2009. He had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and the Scottish government released him on compassionate grounds after judging that he had about three months to live. He has rarely been seen since his return.

Margaret Scott, Mr Megrahi’s defence counsel, told appeal judges at the time that his “absolute priority in the little time he has left is to spend it with his family in his homeland”.