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Summary Megrahi suffered from prostate cancer and was hospitalized.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people, died on Sunday, almost three years after being freed from jail on compassionate grounds.He died an hour ago, his brother Abdelhakim al-Megrahi told AFP, putting the time of death at shortly after 1 pm (1100 GMT).Megrahi, 60, suffered from prostate cancer and was hospitalised for a few days in April before being sent back home to be with his family.On April 16, Abdelhakim had said his brothers days were numbered. A Scottish court in 2001 convicted the Libyan of the attack on Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie but he was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after doctors said he had only three months to live.Megrahi had always maintained his innocence and his brother Abdelhakim defended him on Sunday, saying he was the scapegoat of Moamer Kadhafis regime.He has died and has left us with the feeling of injustice, he told AFP. Everyone knows that the Kadhafi regime blamed its mistakes on others.Another brother, Mohammad al-Megrahi, too insisted Abdelbaset was innocent. All the darkness of the universe will never cover the flame of the candle which is the truth, he said, speaking outside the family home where relatives had gathered to receive condolences.Within the last decade more than 10 babies have been born in this family of Abdelbaset Megrahi. One day these Abdelbaset babies will get an apology from the world.Megrahi had been greeted as a hero on his return to Kadhafis Libya, after having served eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence for his role in the bombing.The fact that he survived much longer than the doctors had estimated provoked indignation in Britain and the United States.On the second anniversary of the release of the former Libyan intelligence agent on August 20, 2009, the Scottish government insisted its decision to free him had been vindicated. But British Prime Minister David Cameron criticised the release as a terrible mistake, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he would like to see him back in jail behind bars.
