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Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction

The key prosecution witness in the Lockerbie bombing trial was allegedly offered a $2 million in return for giving evidence, raising fresh doubts about the safety of the case.

Lawyers for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of murdering 270 people on board Pan Am Flight 103, have evidence that detectives recommended that Tony Gauci, a shopkeeper from Malta, be given the payment after the case ended.

Mr. Gauci’s testimony was crucial to al-Megrahi’s conviction. He told the trial that the Libyan had bought clothes at his shop which the prosecution claimed were packed into the suitcase bomb that exploded over Lockerbie, south west Scotland, on December 21, 1988.

The defence team believes Mr. Gauci may have received a larger sum from the U.S. authorities. His role in the case is to be central to al-Megrahi’s appeal against his conviction. — ©Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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