LONDON, Aug. 19 -- A Scottish court on Tuesday allowed the only man convicted in the bombing of an American jetliner over Lockerbie to drop his appeal, part of an effort by the man, who is terminally ill, to be allowed to return home to die among his family.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Libyan secret service agent, is serving a life sentence in Scotland for his part in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The plane exploded over the Scottish town, killing 270 people, most of them American. Megrahi, 57, has maintained his innocence and is dying of prostate cancer. U.S. officials have protested any efforts to allow him to leave jail.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is considering various options for Megrahi: grant his request for early release on compassionate grounds, approve a transfer to a prison in Libya or keep him in the Scottish prison.

A spokesman for the Scottish government said that a decision will be made "by the end of the month, or sooner."

Margaret Scott, Megrahi's attorney, told the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday that Megrahi was dropping his appeal in the hope it would hasten a decision to return him to Libya. Megrahi can be transferred to another country only if there are no pending criminal proceedings. A separate appeal by the Scottish government over the length of his sentence, which carries a 27-year minimum term, would need to be resolved before he could be transferred.

Seven U.S. senators have protested Megrahi's release, writing a letter to MacAskill asking him to have the former agent serve out his prison sentence in Scotland.

"Until the tragic events of September 11, 2001, no terrorist act had killed more American civilians," the senators wrote, adding that "our international agreement called for his sentence to be served in Scotland and we believe strongly there should be no deviation from this sentence."

Their letter Tuesday follows a phone call last week to MacAskill by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who also urged him not to release Megrahi.

Paul Rogers, a professor of peace studies at Bradford University, said that although the pressure from American politicians would have "had some significance" with Scottish authorities, it is "almost certain" that Megrahi will be released on compassionate grounds. But it "in no way relieves him of any blame," Rogers said.

On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb ripped through a Boeing 747 airliner flying from London to New York, killing the 259 people onboard. Eleven Lockerbie residents also died, as chunks of the plane crashed to the ground.

Questions over who was behind the plot have swirled for decades, and dropping the appeal is a disappointment for those who thought its resolution could have provided new evidence about the bombing.

Robert Baer, a former CIA officer, told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday that there were "a lot of other leads that were never followed."

"I don't exclude the Libyans necessarily," he said. "I am just saying that I am sorry the appeal didn't go through, because personally, I am curious to know really who is behind Lockerbie."

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