His first name is Jim. Dr Jim Swire is the father of Flora, one of the 270 victims of the atrocious Lockerbie disaster when a PAN AM jet liner on its way to New York from London was blown up in mid-air over the Scottish town.
What, you may ask, do we have to thank Dr Swire for?
Very simple.
Dr Swire is the recognized spokesperson of the British victims of this mass murder. It was only natural that he would be interviewed by the BBC in the wake of the release, on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government, of Mr Abdulbasset Ali Mohamet al Megrahi. Mr al Megrahi was the only person convicted at the trail held in Camp Zeist in Holland in 2000. His conviction meant that the dubious theory, that the bomb was hidden away in a suitcase on a flight which departed from Malta’s Luqa International Airport two days before, was then transferred to a plane proceeding to Heathrow at Frankfurt and then transferred yet again onto the fateful PAN AM jumbo, was accepted as the truth. This meant that Malta has the dubious record of being acclaimed as the place where the Lockerbie atrocity started off.
Dr Swire has long gone on the record several times strongly stating his total disagreement with this “evidence”. Now, once more, he is only person in all the video clips posted on the news websites in the wake of Mr al Megrahi’s release who has asked once more for all the truth to come out. In support of his stand, Dr Swire has stated on the record in an interview with the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8212475.stm Bereaved father commends 'brave' decision, posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 14.32 GMT) that there was a break-in at Heathrow airport by “an unidentified person” on the morning of the Lockerbie disaster, that Heathrow’s security personnel were interviewed by the Metropolitan Police immediately after the disaster and that this information “was hushed up for 12 years” until after al Megrahi’s conviction in 2000.
Dr Swire thus demands a “full blown, high powered inquiry” so that the relatives of the victims can obtain their human rights of learning the truth about who really killed their “loved ones”. On the Malta connection Dr Swire says it is an “ . . .unlikely hypothesis, it never did seem to hold water, it doesn’t stand up to inspection . . . . ” and that it was “. . . . highly unlikely scenario based on the island of Malta . . . .”
In his interview Dr Swire criticizes the Thatcher Government for concealing the lead about the Heathrow break-in. He also criticizes the western governments, especially the US Government and Mrs Clinton in particular, for insisting that Mr al Megrahi should drop his appeal before he was released on compassionate grounds. This, Dr Swire argues, means that Mr al Megrahi will always remain, technically at least, the only person to have been found guilty of the crime, that his family will have to live with this for ever and that the truth about who really committed the crime – also in the light of the Heathrow lead which was, as he says, hushed up – will never be known.
This also means that Malta will also continue to be considered as the country from where the deadly episode began.
In the light of this, I think that as a nation we should support Dr Swire’s strong appeal for a full inquiry to be held so that the full truth will. Moreover, we should thank him for unequivocally clearing Malta’s tarnished name.
For all this, thank you, indeed, Dr Swire!