Almost 24 years after the event, convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has said he is willing to forgive Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper whose testimony was crucial in convicting him for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Forgiving him, I am facing my God very soon

“He [Mr Gauci] dealt with me very wrongly. I have never seen him in my life before he came to the court. I find him a very simple man. But I do forgive him,” Mr al-Megrahi told a BBC Scotland interviewer as part of a new Lockerbie documentary.

The documentary, aired yesterday, was timed to coincide with the release of Mr al-Megrahi’s official biography. It presented previously unseen scientific evidence it claimed “comprehensively undermines” the prosecution’s case against Mr al-Megrahi.

Mr al-Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 but was subsequently released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Having returned to Libya, he has continued to protest his innocence while significantly outliving his doctors’ prognosis.

His conviction for the infamous bombing hinged significantly on Mr Gauci’s testimony, who identified him as the man who had bought clothes which were subsequently found packed around the bomb.

Bedridden and emaciated, Mr al-Megrahi would appear to have little time for grudges.

“Forgiving him, I am facing my God very soon,” he told BBC Scotland. “I swear I have never been in his shop or buy any clothing from his shop.”