Scotland’s justice minister met for an hour on Wednesday in Greenock prison with the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, heightening speculation that the bomber, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, may soon be released to return home to Libya. Mr. Megrahi, 57, who has been diagnosed with a terminal case of prostate cancer, has applied for release on compassionate grounds from the minimum 27-year sentence imposed on him in 2001. In May, he made a separate plea to be returned home under a newly ratified prisoner exchange treaty between Britain and Libya.

Over the past month, the justice minister, Kenny Mackaskill, has held intensive talks with people connected to the bombing, including representatives of the families of the 270 people who were killed, including 180 Americans. Vehement opposition to any easing of Mr. Megrahi’s imprisonment has come from the American victims’ families, but some of the British victims’ relatives have supported his bid to go home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/world/europe/06briefs-RELEASEFORPA_BRF.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

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