Nelson Mandela met on Sunday with relatives of people killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and said that Egypt and Tunisia are both prepared to let the Libyan man who was convicted in the case serve his life sentence in their Muslim countries.
The former South African president said at a news conference that none of the relatives of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie atrocity had opposed that idea. But it was not immediately possible to confirm that, since it was not known how many survivors had met with Mandela, and none of them appeared at his news conference.
Mandela has taken up the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan convict, calling for him to be given a new appeal and to be moved from a prison in Scotland to one in a Muslim country.
Al-Megrahi (49) was convicted at a special Scottish court, sitting in the Netherlands, in 2001, of smuggling a bomb aboard the Pan Am jet, which exploded over Lockerbie, killing 270 people, 189 of them Americans.
Al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence agent, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 20 years. A second Libyan was acquitted. Al-Megrahi is serving his sentence at Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison after losing an appeal of his conviction this year.
Mandela had played a crucial role in persuading Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi to hand over the two Libyan men suspected of involvement in the 1988 bombing.
During a visit to the Scottish prison on June 10, Mandela also called for al-Megrahi to be given a new appeal and for him to be transferred to a Muslim country where it would be easier for him to complete his sentence.
But Prime Minister Tony Blair said then that he saw no reason to move al-Megrahi. ”The very agreement that we made was that he would come to a Scottish prison,” Blair said.
”I see no reason…to change that decision.”
On Sunday, Mandela met with the relatives of the Lockerbie victims, then held his news conference at South Africa House in London.
Mandela said he had told the relatives that he would like al-Megrahi to be transferred to a Muslim prison in a Muslim country, and that he had already spoken to the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia. ”They have both agreed that, if he is transferred, they would accept him,” Mandela said.
”I told the relatives that he would go to a country trusted by Britain and the United States to serve his full sentence, and the length of the sentence would be determined by the Scottish authorities.
”Nobody opposed it, and I was very happy with their response. They appear to be open-minded, notwithstanding the wounds and the scars they have suffered,” Mandela said.
At some point, he said, he would ask to meet with Blair to discuss his requests regarding al-Megrahi. Mandela also is expected to visit the United States soon to meet with relatives of Lockerbie fatalities there, too.
Asked about the nonattendance at his news conference of the people he met Sunday, Mandela said: ”I would not encourage them to participate. They are still suffering from the wounds and scars of this disaster.”
But, he said, serious questions have been raised about al-Megrahi’s conviction by a sister of one of the victims, a four-judge commission of the Organisation of African Unity, and an appointee of the United Nations. – Sapa-AP