* IN YOU BEEN SNAP BLOG * BREAKING SAD OR GOOD NEWS " LOCKERBIE BOMBER: LIBYAN INTELLIGENCE AGENT AL-MEGRAHI FINALLY DIES THREE YEARS AFTER RELEASE FROM SCOTTISH PRISON" HIVI MTU AKIKUTENDEA MABAYA UNAMUOMBEA AFE YAISHE AU ATESEKE AKOME ??

 *MKILETEWA HAPA NA MISS FB FLORA BAHATI LYIMO*

Health deteriorated rapidly: Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi (above) from terminal prostate cancer which he developed while serving his sentence for the 1988 atrocity

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi died at home today three years after he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

The convicted terrorist's mother said he passed away at his home in Tripoli at around midday.

The 60-year-old had developed prostate cancer while serving his sentence for the 1988 atrocity which killed 270 people.

His release came after doctors told him he had just three months to live.

But the decision provoked huge controversy as many of the victims' families felt his freedom was part of a deal to secure a better relationship with oil-rich Libya.

He received a hero's welcome on his return to Tripoli and was paraded through the streets alongside the late Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif.

Al-Megrahi, a fomer Libyan intelligence agent, died in his own bed in Tripoli surrounded by his family.

British Prime Minister David Cameron reacted to the news by saying: 'Today is a day to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act.'

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said the reported death was a 'very sad event'.

Dr Swire, a member of the Justice for Megrahi (JFM) group, believes there is evidence yet to be released that will prove Megrahi's innocence.

Ravaged with cancer: Sources at a private clinic where he was being treated said last month that he had fallen 'unconscious' and may never wake up;

Made as comfortable as possible: The 60-year-old under the care of his family in his Tripoli villa last year;

Palatial: Al-Megrahi's luxury home in Libya, where he passed away, nearly three years after being released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds on the basis he had only three months to live;

It's a very sad event,' he told Sky News. I met him last time face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain.
'But he still wanted to talk to me about how information which he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death.

 

'And I think that's a fairly amazing thing for a man who knows he's dying to do.'
Dr Swire added: 'Right up to the end he was determined - for his family's sake, he knew it was too late for him, but for his family's sake - how the verdict against him should be overturned.
'And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen.'

Hero's welcome: Al-Megrahi (left) is greeted by supporters on his arrival back to Libya with Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif, after his release from a Scottish prison in August 2009;

Controversy: Al-Megrahi was given a joyous reception following the prisoner transfer agreement that many of his victims' families felt was a move to win favour with the oil-rich Libyan regime;

The British Foreign Office and East Renfrewshire Council say they are investigating reports of his death.
Martin Cadman, from Norfolk, whose son Bill died in the flight at the age of 32, said: 'The only thing I am interested in is getting to the truth. The Americans know far more than they have said.'
JFM, which represents victims' families who are sceptical over Megrahi's responsibility for the bombing, has called for the appeal against his conviction to be reopened.
American Eileen Monetti, who lost her 20-year-old son Rick in the bombing, said she could not celebrate Megrahi's death.
From her home in New Jersey, she said: 'When I first heard I had to ask 'are you sure?' because there have been so many reports of his imminent death before.
'He now has to face his God and deal with judgment whatever it is. I'm in no position to judge but I do feel that it isn't going to change my life that much, I mean he already did a lot of changing to my life.
'I was surprised, but I'm not jumping up and down, I don't celebrate any death.'

Megrahi was the only person convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew to New York from London;

All 259 people aboard the airliner died and 11 others in the town of Lockerbie were killed by falling wreckage;

 

Last month, a source close to a clinic where he is being treated said he had fallen 'unconscious and may never wake up'.
Staff in the private clinic in Tripoli, Libya, where the he underwent an emergency blood transfusion said he remained 'critical' and had not spoken for almost two weeks.
'He slipped into an unconscious state soon after the transfusion and may never wake up,' said one of the sources.
A close family friend confirmed the prognosis, saying Al-Megrahi's condition had deteriorated 'very seriously' over the past three days.

Compassion: Dr Jim Swire (pictured), whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Al-Megrahi's death was a 'very sad event'

Al-Megrahi is in the Al-Afia clinic, which is just a few miles from Tripoli international airport, where the bomber returned from Britain in triumph in 2009 after being released on compassionate grounds because of prostate cancer.
He was released from prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds with three months to live, but has survived for more than two-and-a-half years.
Recent pictures of the bomber have shown him looking increasingly ravaged by the cancer spreading through his body.
His death will mark the end of a long fight by the relatives of his American victims to get the former intelligence agent sent to face justice in the U.S.
Megrahi was the only person convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew to New York from London.
All 259 people aboard the airliner died and 11 others in the town of Lockerbie were killed by falling wreckage.
After protracted international pressure, Megrahi was put on trial under Scots law at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
He was found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
Despite claims that he could not have worked alone, and the lingering suspicion by some that he was innocent, Megrahi was the only man ever convicted over the terrorist attack.
He was freed from prison after serving nearly eight years of his sentence after he dropped his second appeal against conviction at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision to allow Megrahi to return home to die in Libya sparked international condemnation from some relatives of victims and politicians, who demanded he be returned to jail.
U.S. families were among the most vocal critics of the decision, along with US president Barack Obama. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton branded the move 'absolutely wrong'.
American fury at the decision was compounded by the hero's welcome Megrahi received in Tripoli upon his return.
Prime Minister David Cameron has also come under pressure from some US senators for an independent inquiry into the decision to free the bomber.

The decision to free Al-Megrahi, pictured here in a Sottish Crown Office handout, by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill (L) sparked international condemnation from some relatives of victims and politicians"