Megrahi doubts

Bearing in mind Tony Gauci’s insistence that the man who purchased clothing in his shop was about 50 years old, over 6ft tall, heavily built and dark-skinned (Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was 36, 5ft 8in tall, of medium build and light-skinned), Clive Fairweather’s doubts over his identification of Megrahi (your report, 21 May) are well founded.

The “evidence” linking Megrahi to the bombing was sparse, none of it stands up to close scrutiny and without Gauci’s testimony there would surely be no case to answer.

I find it incomprehensible that anyone who has studied the Lockerbie case in any detail can swallow the guilty verdict.

Robert Woodcock

Strathmartine Road

Dundee

Bob Taylor (Letters 22 May) rightly says it took 17 years for those convicted of the 1974 Birmingham bombings to be released.

But there were several people who knew (and know) who the real perpetrators were and could immediately have ensured the release and even the non- conviction of those charged; might they include those involved in the subsequent “peace process” and possibly even some in government itself?

John Birkett

Horseleys Park

St Andrews

Bob MacDougall (Letters, 22 May) refers to Mr Megrahi getting a hero’s welcome on his return to Libya.

My impression was that it was mainly a family welcome, with little state participation apart from the presence of Colonel Gaddafi’s son. Clans and extended families seem less important now in Scotland than they once were, but remain significant in Libya. Mention is made of Saltire flags at that welcome but not of how they got there. There was a suggestion at the time that they were provided by the British Embassy.

We may never know the truth of that, or the motive if true. There is much which we may never know about this case, but we may hope that Mr Megrahi’s appeal may be re-opened, for the sake of his family and friends but also for the sake of the reputation of Scotland’s legal system.

David Stevenson

Blacket Place

Edinburgh