Lockerbie bomber to be freed from jail

LONDON: A former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing is to be released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds, Britain's Sky News reported on Wednesday.

Abdel Basset al Megrahi, who is 57 and has terminal prostate cancer, was sentenced to life in prison for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie as it flew from London to New York on December 18, 1988.

Libya has repeatedly lobbied for Megrahi's release -- most recently at a meeting in Italy between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month.

Libyan authorities made an application in July on behalf of Megrahi asking for him to be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return home.Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill met Megrahi to discuss the application last week in Greenock prison where he is being held.

A spokesman for Brown would not confirm or deny the Sky report and said Megrahi's case was a matter for the Scottish government since he was convicted under Scottish law.

Scottish government officials were not immediately available.

Four years after Megrahi's conviction, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing and agreed to pay about $2.7 billion in compensation to the victims' families -- a move that helped clear the way for the lifting of sanctions and the restoration of Libya's ties with Western states.