A Libyan intelligence agent was jailed for life today for murdering 270 people in the bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie in Scotland 12 years ago.
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Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah (left) and Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi
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In a dramatic climax to the nine-month trial at a heavily guarded court in the Netherlands, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was found guilty, but co-accused Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima was acquitted and set free.
The three Scottish judges recommended Megrahi, 49, should serve a minimum of 20 years. He will serve his mandatory life sentence at a jail in Scotland.
Presiding judge Lord Sutherland said the sentence was substantially less than it would otherwise have been because of Megrahi's age and the fact he would be serving his sentence in a foreign country.
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Memorial for 270 Lockerbie victims
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Relatives of bereaved victims in the courtroom greeted the sentence with sighs of disappointment.
In an 82-page written judgement, the court said it accepted evidence that Megrahi was a member of the JSO (Jamahariya Security Organisation), occupying posts of fairly high rank .
Relatives of the victims said this verdict made it plain that the Lockerbie bombing was a case of state terrorism and that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was behind it.
A spokesman for American families said the conviction of Megrahi pointed directly to Gaddafi as the author of one of the worst terrorist outrages of modern times.
Megrahi's lawyer said his client maintained his innocence. State-run Libyan television reported that he would launch an appeal, and Libya's UN envoy told CNN that Libya had nothing to do with this tragedy at all.
In a unanimous verdict, the three Scottish judges found Megrahi guilty of planting the bomb aboard a flight in Malta which connected via Frankfurt with Pan Am's London-to-New York flight.
The judges were also unanimous in acquitting co-accused Libyan Fahima of causing the explosion, which destroyed the Boeing 747 at cruising altitude over Lockerbie.
It killed all 259 aboard and 11 people in the town.
Reuters