(653)  LOCKERBIE CONVICTION REVIEW

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission announced on 28 June 2007 that it was recommending an appeal against the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1988 and the death of its 259 passengers (see Nos 96, 164).  The grounds of the recommendation were fourfold: (1) the reasonableness of the trial court’s verdict; (2) the availability of new evidence not heard at the trial; (3) additional evidence not made available to the defence at the time of trial; and (4) other evidence not available to the defence at the time of trial.  The appeal is not expected to be heard before mid-2008.  Megrahi meantime is located in Gateside prison at Greenock, and continues to maintain his innocence of the Lockerbie atrocity.  Earlier there had been political fisticuffs between SNP First Minister Alex Salmond and Whitehall over a memorandum of understanding signed by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi during a meeting at the end of May 2007, in which it was stated that the UK and Libya would shortly commence negotiations” about prisoner transfer