Jim Swire makes final “goodbye visit” to Lockerbie bomber
Dr Jim Swire has returned from a week-long visit to Libya. Picture: PA
JIM SWIRE – the father of one of the Lockerbie victims – has said the man found guilty of the bombing “does not have much time left” after visiting him in Libya.
Dr Swire said it was a chance to say a “last goodbye” to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and that he has doubted Megrahi’s guilt ever since the trial.
He spent just over a week in Libya’s capital Tripoli and said he believes it is the last time he will see Megrahi alive.
The 75-year-old, who lives in Gloucestershire, said: “It was very much a trip for me to say goodbye to him, which is something I wanted to do because he is very much terminally ill. He doesn’t have much time left.
“He is quite unable to get out of bed and he can only speak in short sentences now because of his shortness of breath.
“I wanted to make sure he has the right pain killers, as I used to be a doctor, and he did.
“Although he is in a lot of pain he is still very concerned about making sure I am able to see documents his defence solicitors had (during the trial) after he dies.
“He realises that all I’m trying to do is find out who murdered our daughter. It may seem unusual but I have come to regard him as a friend and he has a very generous heart.”
Dr Swire’s daughter Flora was one of the 270 people who died when Pam Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie.
Megrahi was found guilty of carrying out the bombing by a Scottish court sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was freed on compassionate grounds from Greenock Prison in Inverclyde in August 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
At the time doctors estimated that he had only three months to live.
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Comments
There are 19 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Simonsaid
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 01:18 PM#18- Arbroath 1320 I have always had serious doubts about Abdul Basset al Megrahi's guilt in the Pan Am 103 incident ================================================= What do you think Megrahi, (Head of security for Libya Airlines) was doing in Malta, on a false passport, when the suitcase bomb was planted on the Frankurt flight? ------- Why wouldn’t you suspect someone of planting a bomb if you knew that the person you are not suspecting was involved in purchasing bomb timers.? Give me really good reasons for the above instead of gut feelings and I might just might start believing Megrahi’’s innocence
Arbroath 1320
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 04:38 AMI have always had serious doubts about Abdul Basset al Megrahi's guilt in the Pan Am 103 incident. His conviction through the Scottish court convened in the Hague was at best highly questionable. I suspect that he was set up by personsagencies unknown for the fall. No matter what your view of his guiltinnocence I would urge anyone with even a passing interest in this dreadful case to watch "Lockerbie: The Pan Am bomber" which was aired on Al Jazerra some time ago. http:www.aljazeera.comprogrammesgeneral201106201169134738626549.html I think anyone who watches this programme will be left with more questions than answers.
Charles Linskaill
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 12:23 AMIt all says much of Dr Jim Swire, a man who has great empathy, common sense, and who seeks the real truth, and even after the death of his very much loved daughter, he did not get into a hysterical frenzy to blame the first man who comes along for the atrocity, Unlike the many who must still believe in witches who should be burnt at the stake.
Blackwell Bretherton
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 11:37 PMI fully support Dr Swire's pursuit of justice for Flora and a return to Tripoli was a sensible move in my eyes. I have never met a man who is more capable of clear, objective thought on such a very close emotive issue. His need to find the truth has never clouded his judgement for long. He has been proven wrong, but equally not yet been proven right. Over 23 years his intelligent , gentle and persistent approach has helped him hone in on the truths sandwiched between the layers of deceipt and injustice that surround the events leading upto Flora's murder and since. While I think, hope and pray he will get there, I think sharing the lessons learnt on the journey could be of value to us all.
Selgovae
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:41 PM#12 " be so certain of Megrahi’s innocence" How do we know he is so certain? Perhaps he just wants to know what happened. And if it turns out that Megrahi did commit this crime, then befriending the killer of your daughter as the way to find out is an act no one is qualified to pass judgement on. I get angry because the plane passed over my parent's house some minutes before it went down. I should perhaps be thankful, but the complete farce of a trial and lack of any public inquiry into the investigation makes me want to know even more. If all Dr Swire does is keep this issue in the news, he has my support.
Simonsaid
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:05 PMLachie Mhor If he feels that he has to visit Megrahi, that is his business, it does not require further media reporting. ========================================= I' m sorry but I disagree Dr Swire is part of a high profile attempt to overturn Megrahi's conviction and must have known that this would mean he would be in the spotlight
Lachie Mhor
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 09:37 PMDoctor Swire has suffered extreme pain and sadness with the loss of his daughter . There is an issue that he is only one of many who lost relatives and friends in this atrocity. We do not see any of the others involved paying visits to Megrahi or indeed to Libya now that there is a new government. It is perhaps time that Doctor Swire continued to grieve his loss in private and accepted that he cannot do much more. If he feels that he has to visit Megrahi, that is his business, it does not require further media reporting.
Simonsaid
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 08:53 PM#11- ScotCan It is apparent that Dr Swire is more at peace with all these events than many of the posters who seem to be filled with hate and revenge. ====================================================== I can see why ordinary people would harbour feeling of hate and revenge for someone who was convicted of blowing up an airliner. What I find difficult to understand is how someone whose daughter died in that airliner can, without having concrete proof to the contrary, be so certain of Megrahi’s innocence.----------------------------------------------------------------- Megrahi was a high ranking Intelligence Officer in Gaddafi’s regime during the time that Libya was top of the state sponsor terror league. He was in Malta on a false passport for two days when the suitcase bomb was put on the plane, returning to Tripoli, a half hour hop, a few hours after it left for Frankfurt. Also, he had business connections with the Swiss makers of bomb timers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I find the accusation that the CIA paid the shopkeeper two million dollars to give false evidence a joke – He said he thought it was Megrahi or it looked like him or he looked Libyan – Would you pay two million smackers to someone who was more likely to lose you the case than win it? I don’t think so. ---------------------------------------- I will believe Megrahi’s innocence when irrefutable proof is presented that he is innocent – something like a call from Lizzie herself to say that he was at Balmoral not Malta when the bomb was loaded on the plane.
ScotCan
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 07:59 PMIt is apparent that Dr Swire is more at peace with all these events than many of the posters who seem to be filled with hate and revenge.
Rob Royston
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 07:23 PM9Faceless_bureaucrat===So you know who the killer is, do you? It's obviously not Mr Megraghi as he would still be locked up in a Scottish jail, cancer or no. The reason he is in Libya is because he dropped his appeal. The compassionate release that followed was for Scottish political correctness. Every politician in the UK who has ever been in government, including the SNP, are accessories to a miscarraige of justice. The plane was blown up, either accidentally or on purpose by western agencies and everything that happened from that night on, falsification of evidence etc, has been done to hide the guilt of the US and UK governments, who knew exactly what was being clandestinely carried in the aircraft.
Faceless_bureaucrat
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 06:47 PMThis guy has set back the Lockerbie families plight back decades, now that he's gone we might get some justice. Swires is like a bad cold that can't be shaken off . Personally, I believe our government should buy the services of a local "mechanic" and finish the killer off. Magrahi does not deny his involvement ,his argument is that he did not work alone.
The Haymaker
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 06:39 PM6# Lol! Why is this no surprise Barnacle Bill. I guess it just suits your political agenda down to the ground, doesn't it, eh! Your blind, irrational hatred of the Nats is truly all-consuming. It clouds your every thought and taints every bitter, jaundiced opinion you've ever spouted, like a pile of cold dog-sick, on this wretched site. It follows you around like an angry wee black dog. It makes you the bitter, negative, girning anti-Scottish twerp that we know and loathe. Barnacle Bill..! The personification of the most pathetic species on earth - the Unionist Scot.
Tightfisted
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 05:58 PMComment removed by moderator
Blantyre Bill
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 05:50 PM3 Alan Craigie - I agree with you.
Charles P
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 05:37 PMComment No. 3 Alan Craigie! Obvious from his language that this is a young man, so instead of opprobrium (he'll need to look that up) I'll offer advice. When you have nothing to say, preserve the knowledge of your ignorance, by just not saying it! You are a bitter, ignorant young man and I pity your Parents for having nurtured you.
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