'I fear that Megrahi may be shot by bin Laden-style hit squad'

A FATHER who lost his daughter in the Lockerbie bombing says he is concerned for the safety of the man convicted of the atrocity as he announced he was stepping down from frontline campaigning.

Dr Jim Swire said he was concerned US special forces could kill Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.

Megrahi, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, was released from a Scottish prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds, after serving nearly eight years of his 27-year sentence.

The former GP, whose daughter Flora was among the dead, believes Megrahi is innocent. He said: "I am worried for him. I can just see the unit they sent to kill Osama bin Laden being sent to extract Megrahi.

"Presumably they wouldn't extract him but kill him on the spot."

Dr Swire said he was stepping down from frontline campaigning as a group of British lawyers, including QCs, were keen to look at evidence from Megrahi's trial.

"There's a whole cohort of senior lawyers who are keen to get involved," he added.

Dr Swire also said the emergence of the Justice For Megrahi campaign group was another reason for his decision.

He continued: "Both I and my family feel it's time to leave it to younger hands. Right from day one we felt that we wanted to try and force something good to come out of something so evil as this.

"In the early years that took the form of hoping to improve relations between Libya and Britain, and that did seem to be working."