Gaddafi should stand trial in Scots court over Lockerbie, says Crown

SCOTTISH prosecutors "stand ready" to put Colonel Gaddafi on trial for the Lockerbie bombing, the country's new Lord Advocate has said.

Frank Mulholland said that going after the Libyan leader was "the least we can do for the families of the victims of Lockerbie".

The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 was the worst atrocity in Scottish history, claiming the lives of 270 people.Prosecutors have long believed Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted, was acting on instructions and the bombing was an act of "state-sponsored terrorism".

However, Mr Mulholland's intent of prosecuting Gaddafi could conflict with US hopes of putting him before an international court.

Meanwhile, one relative who has publicly doubted whether Megrahi was involved at all, warned going after another Libyan would be "extremely unwise".

Megrahi was tried at Camp Zeist, in the Netherlands, in 2001, but Mr Mulholland believes any trial of Gaddafi should be held on Scottish soil.

In April, police and investigators interviewed Moussa Koussa, the former Libyan foreign minister who defected, but details of the conversation have not been disclosed.

The Lord Advocate continued: "We monitor closely events in Libya to see if anyone with information about the Lockerbie atrocity comes forth, and we will act on that.

"This is the least we can do for the families of victims of Lockerbie; sometimes we overlook what they went through."

A Crown Office spokesman added: "The trial court accepted that Mr Megrahi acted in furtherance of the Libyan intelligence services in an act of state sponsored terrorism and did not act alone.

"Lockerbie remains an open case concerning the involvement of others with Megrahi in the murder of 270 people. Given the current events in Libya the Crown stands ready to investigate any new leads.

"The Crown will continue to pursue lines of enquiry that become available.

"This was, and remains, a joint investigation and prosecution with our US Department of Justice colleagues."

But Dr Jim Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the tragedy, and who met Gaddafi in 1991, said:

"In view of Scotland having tolerated knowledge, in the public domain for years, that there are very serious faults in the verdict against the one Libyan who was convicted of the atrocity, it would be extremely unwise to submit Colonel Gaddafi or anyone else to Scottish justice."

Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009, after doctors said he had three months to live.

He is still living in Libya today.