Released Lockerbie Bomber Celebrates Birthday, Has Made "Remarkable Recovery"

As reported in the New York Daily News on April 2, 2010, convicted Lockerbie Bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi celebrated his 58th birthday the previous Thursday. When Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi was given a compassionate release from prison some eight months ago, Scottish prison officials stated that they had been assured by doctors that he had less than 3 months to live before he would succumb to terminal prostate cancer. According to the Daily News:

An ex-Libyan intelligence officer, Megrahi was given a hero's welcome home [see photo above left], where he's been embraced by Libyan President Moammar Khadafy and has apparently been on the mend.

"Since returning to the love of family and friends, he has made a remarkable recovery," a diplomatic source told the (London) Daily Mail.

Last week, Megrahi blocked the public release of his medical records.

As cynical and skeptical as I may be, I do not believe that Megrahi's doctors or the Scottish prison officials engaged in any dishonest subterfuge. It is perfectly plausible that the progress of a prisoner's cancer would be slowed by a release from prison, a joyous return home, better nutrition and care, and the love of friends and family. However, that is precisely why he should not have been released at all. He was sentenced to life in prison and should have died in prison.

One can only imagine the anguish experienced by family members of the Lockerbie victims who hear about the bombing conspirator's birthday celebration. Actually, we need not imagine it--here is a quote from Susan Cohen of Cape May, New Jersey, the mother of Theodora Cohen, a Syracuse University student who was among the 270 men, women and children who died on December 21, 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded from a bomb detonated as it flew over Lockerbie, Scottland:

"It's absolutely despicable. It's horrific because my daughter had only 20 birthdays."

[Hat tip to an anonymous tipster.]