Megrahi’s home deserted

THE gates of the Lockerbie bomber’s opulent Tripoli home remained firmly padlocked yesterday.

Rubbish lay strewn in the street outside the two-storey home, given to Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi by Gaddafi, and the security guards who normally patrol the entrance were nowhere to be seen. Rebels believe he may have fled the city.

Megrahi is supposed to check in with East Renfrewshire Council after being released from jail on compassionate grounds two years ago. However, he has not been heard from since fighting reached Tripoli.

Scottish labour leader Iain Gray yesterday said the terms of the bomber’s release from Greenock Prison two years ago were “in chaos”.

“We should never have found ourselves in this situation as he should never have been sent back to Libya and it only highlights how Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill got it terribly wrong,” he said.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government is in contact with the Libyan National Transitional Council in London, and any change in Mr Megrahi’s circumstances would be a matter for discussion with them as the new duly constituted and legitimate government of Libya.”