Profile: Fhimah among first to welcome bomber home

AL-AMIN Khalifa Fhimah, who stood accused alongside Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi at Camp Zeist during the Lockerbie trial, was one of the first to welcome him back to Libya.

After Megrahi was freed on compassionate grounds, because he was suffering from prostate cancer and doctors believed he had only three months to live, Fhimah grabbed his arm as he got off the plane in Tripoli.

Fhimah, who worked in the airline industry, was alleged to have been the inside man who ensured luggage containing bombs was allowed to get on the Pan Am 103 flight.

Prosecutors claimed he obtained luggage tags that were attached to the bags carrying explosives.

However, this was dismissed in court and the judges unanimously found Fhimah not guilty on 31 January, 2001.

He was freed and returned to his home at Souk al-Juma in Libya the following day.

When Megrahi was presented to a jubilant crowd in Tripoli in August 2009, Fhimah could be seen waving a Libyan flag.