Thousands of Libyans took to the streets of Tripoli today to protest against a life sentence for murder handed down to a Libyan intelligence agent for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
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Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi
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More than 7,000 people converged on the United Nations offices and delivered a message to the UN representative condemning the verdict, which they dubbed "unjust" and said came as the result of US and British pressure.
They called on the United Nations to obtain the release of the agent, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, as well as for the immediate lifting of sanctions and compensation for damages from the embargo on the country.
A similar demonstration was held in the northern city of Benghazi.
In a unanimous ruling announced Thursday at Camp Zeist, near the Dutch city of Utrecht, five senior Scottish judges rejected Megrahi's appeal, upholding his conviction and life sentence for murder.
Megrahi, 49, has been in custody for most of the past three years after being handed over by Libya, and was convicted on January 31st, 2001 after a trial which lasted eight months.
His co-defendant, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, 44, was acquitted.
A total of 270 people, 259 on board Pan Am Flight 103 and 11 on the ground, were killed when the plane blew up over the southwest Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21st, 1988.
AFP