Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

The father of one of the Lockerbie bombing victims is calling on Malta to clear its name from its connection with the terrorist attack by asking the Scottish authorities to revoke the sentence which found a Libyan man guilty.

The appeal was made by Jim Swire, whose 24-year-old daughter was among the 270 victims after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish village of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.

Throughout the case the prosecution had argued that Libyan national Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi had originally planted the bomb on an aircraft which left from Malta.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment before being released on compassionate grounds in 2009. Mr Megrahi died from prostate cancer last year.

Dr Swire is in Malta in connection with the play The Lockerbie Bomber which is being staged at St James Cavalier. During his stay Dr Swire, who is also accompanied by Robert Forrester from the Justice for Megrahi Group, met Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Foreign Minister George Vella.

Megrahi was just a scapegoat and the attack was probably commissioned by Iran in retaliation for the shooting down of one of its passenger planes

Addressing a news conference, Dr Swire described the meeting as cordial, while expressing his gratitude that the Maltese government was very willing to listen to them.

Dr Swire said “the ball is in their court” referring to fact that the Maltese Government can request the Scottish authorities to revoke the conviction. He said he was very surprised that the Maltese were still very interested in this terrorist attack 25 years on.

Dr Swire added that Mr Megrahi, whom he referred to as “a friend”, was just a scapegoat, adding that the attack was probably commissioned by Iran.

He said that the strike was in retaliation for the shooting down by mistake of an Iran Air aircraft by the Americans while flying over the Persian Gulf five months earlier.