Plea over Lockerbie bomber's appeal

CALLS to speed up the appeal of the Lockerbie bomber have been made by former Labour MP Tam Dalyell after it emerged the Libyan is suffering from cancer.

Mr Dalyell said it was urgent that the case was reconsidered after tests revealed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, 56, has cancer of the prostate.

The former Linlithgow MP, who helped broker Megrahi's handover for trial, said: "I was told several weeks ago about his condition, but was told to keep it confidential.

"It is a disgrace that this case has dragged on for so long. It is shameful. No-one knows how serious his condition is."

Megrahi was found guilty of killing 259 passengers on board the Pan Am Flight 103 and 11 on the ground when it was blown up over Lockerbie in December 1988.

He was jailed for a minimum of 27 years in 2001 after being tried at a special Scots court in Camp Zeist.

Last week it emerged judges have agreed to allow his defence team another chance to prove his innocence, even though his first appeal was unanimously thrown out in 2002.

It is understood that the full appeal is unlikely to start until mid-2009 and could last for many months.