Libya asked to open up Lockerbie documents

SCOTTISH prosecutors have asked the new Libyan government for access to information and documents relating to the Lockerbie bombing.

The Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC and Chief Constable Pat Shearer of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary broke the news to the UK families of victims of the 1988 atrocity, which claimed 270 lives, in London yesterday.

The investigation is being carried out jointly by Scottish and UK investigators. US law enforcement officials were also at the meeting.

A statement from the Crown Office said: “The purpose of the meeting was to update the families on progress in the ongoing criminal investigation.

“The families were advised that a formal request has been drawn up and sent to the new Libyan government requesting access to Libya for police officers and prosecutors to examine information and documents relating to lines of inquiry.”

The Crown Office said a further meeting with other UK families is scheduled to take place in the near future in Glasgow.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

He was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government in August 2009 after doctors said he had three months to live.