Shocker: 'Terminally Ill' Lockerbie Bomber Disappears

Is anyone surprised by this? The man who four months ago was given three months to live has mysteriously disappeared, causing much embarrassment for the morons who released him.

British authorities revealed today they have lost track of the Lockerbie bomber in a major embarrassment to ministers in both London and Scotland.

Under the terms of his release from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds in August, Abdulbaset Ali al-Megrahi cannot leave Tripoli or change his address and must keep in regular contact with East Renfrewshire Council.

Libyan officials could not say where Megrahi was yesterday and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They were preparing to try to speak to him again today.

The council's Jonathan Hinds tried to telephone Megrahi at his home on Tuesday. He was told the convicted bomber was too ill to speak to him.

"We will continue to attempt to call Mr Megrahi tomorrow and will then consider the situation," he told The Times.

If there were grounds for suspecting Megrahi was breaching the terms of his release, "we would report that to the Scottish government and it would be up to them to decide what action to take", he said.

Megrahi was not at his Tripoli house late on Sunday or the Tripoli Medical Centre on Monday, where Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was treated. Back at Megrahi's house, one of the security officers said "They've all gone", without elaborating.

Megrahi - the only man convicted over the December 1988 bombing of a New York-bound Pan Am Boeing 747 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people - was freed by Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill on August 20 due to his cancer and was given only three months to live.

He returned to a hero's welcome in Libya, angering relatives of those killed.

His release caused tensions between Britain, the Scottish government and the United States and sparked questions about London's growing trade relationship with Tripoli.
Anger was mounting on both sides of the Atlantic as relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed their fears about Megrahi's apparent disappearance.

Richard Baker, Labour's justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said: "This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising Megrahi."

The whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland's reputation at risk, he said.

Eliot Engel, a New York Congressman, said: "I think it was a tremendous mistake to let him out in the first place. I don't think a convicted terrorist has any integrity to abide by any type of agreement."

When even a liberal Democrat realizes this you've got a major PR problem on your hands.

Well, maybe the Scots can wag their fingers and issue a sternly-worded letter to Libya. That ought to do it.

Update: They've allegedly made contact with him. Still, shouldn't he be dead already?