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Release of Lockerbie bomber disappoints US

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-20 23:29

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration said Thursday that it was "deeply" disappointed by Scotland's decision to release a Libyan convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people.

The Scottish government Thursday ordered the early release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988.

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Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, would be allowed to return to Libya to die after serving eight years.

The United States "deeply regrets" the decision and continues to "believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland," the White House said in a statement.

The United States extends "deepest sympathies to the families who live every day with the loss of their loved ones," the statement said.

Among the casualties were 189 Americans.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was "deeply disappointed" by the decision, reiterating a long-standing US position that Megrahi should serve his entire sentence in Scotland.