Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, dies

In August 2009, Scottish authorities released Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, on compassionate grounds after he served eight years of a life sentence. Megrahi, 60, is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

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Feb. 18, 1992

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, center, a former Libyan secret service agent convicted in the Lockerbie bombing, is escorted by security officers in Tripoli, Libya. Megrahi was convicted in a Scottish court set up in the Netherlands and was sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years of a life sentence.

Manoocher Deghati / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 22, 1988

Police and investigators look at what remains of the flight deck of Pan Am Flight 103 on a field in Lockerbie, Scotland. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb ripped through the plane flying from London to New York, killing all 259 on board. Eleven people on the ground were killed by debris.

/ AP

Feb. 3, 2001

Khaled, 15, son of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, carries a picture of his father during a protest outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in the center of Tripoli, Libya.

Desmond Boylan / Reuters

Dec. 4, 2008

Aisha al-Megrahi, wife of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, campaigns for her husband's release, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Andy Buchanan / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 17, 2008

A member of the public visits the Lockerbie memorial in southern Scotland. Many of the victims' family members said Megrahi's release reopened their wounds, decades after the explosion.

Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images

Aug. 20, 2009

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill informs families of the decision to release Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Megrahi, terminally ill with prostate cancer, was released to spend his remaining days with his family in Libya.

Alan Simpson / Getty Images

Aug. 20, 2009

Statements are handed out to the media before Megrahi's lawyer, Tony Kelly, makes a statement in Glasgow, Scotland, on his behalf after he was released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Andrew Milligan / AP

Aug. 20, 2009

A man protests as a police convoy escorts Megrahi from Greenock prison to Glasgow airport in Scotland.

Carl De Souza / AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 20, 2009

Megrahi, center, leaves a police van at Glasgow International Airport in Scotland, bound for Tripoli, Libya, after he was released.

Danny Lawson / AP

Aug. 20, 2009

Megrahi, left, walks onto his airplane at Glasgow International Airport, headed for his home in Tripoli, Libya.

Scott Heppell / AP

Aug. 20, 2009

Megrahi, left, stands with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, upon Megrahi's arrival at an airport in Tripoli, Libya. Britain condemned the "upsetting" scenes of jubilation in Tripoli at Megrahi's return, and considered canceling a royal visit to Libya as a sign of displeasure.

/ AP

Aug. 20, 2009

Megrahi, center, is helped down the airplane steps on his arrival at an airport in Tripoli, Libya.

/ AP

Aug. 21, 2009

In this image made from television, Megrahi, right, is greeted by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, Libya. American officials were angered by the joyful homecoming celebration in Libya for the convicted plotter in the 1988 attack and warned that relations will suffer if Megrahi continued to be lionized by his government.

Jamahiriya Broadcasting via APTN / AP

Aug. 20, 2009

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, right, listens to Megrahi aboard the Libyan presidential plane that brought him back home in Tripoli.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Sept. 1, 2009

A print of a handwritten note by Megrahi is pictured in London after a series of communications between members of the British and Scottish governments were released. Letters show that British authorities deferred to Scotland on whether to release the only man convicted in the 1988 airliner bombing but also repeatedly stressed the importance of growing British-Libyan interests.

Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 31, 2009

This image from TV news shows Megrahi in his hospital bed in Tripoli on August 30. Channel 4 News showed footage of Megrahi in a hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask and attached to a drip.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 31, 2009

A TV image from Channel 4 News shows Megrahi surrounded by family members in his hospital bed in Tripoli on August 30.

/ AFP/Getty Images

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