The Lockerbie bombing must be re-examined by a public inquiry, an SNP MSP has demanded. Christine Grahame urged John Swinney to back a probe into the atrocity during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
The FM said he “would prefer not to speculate” about an inquiry because of “an ongoing criminal case currently underway in the American courts”. Some 270 people were killed when the Pan AM Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb above the Dumfries and Galloway town in December 1988.
Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for life for the bombing in 2001 but doubts have been raised over whether he carried out the attack. Tunisian resident and Libyan national Abu Agila Masud is facing trial over the bombing in America in May.
Grahame said: “Following the recent publication of Dr Jim Swire’s book on Lockerbie and its subsequent serialisation on television and the resistance of the UK Government to release documents, even after 30 years, relating the the atrocity, and remaining concerns for some, including myself, about the credibility of the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, would the First Minister support a UK Inquiry?”
Swinney replied: “First of all, let me express my sympathies to those who lost loved ones onboard Pan Am flight 103 and in the town of Lockerbie. I remember these events vividly and they were terrifying for the community in Dumfries and Galloway and for all the families affected by this atrocity.
“Members will be aware that there is an ongoing criminal case currently underway in the American courts. I would prefer not to speculate on possible inquiries while these criminal investigations and judicial processes remain open. Of course it is a matter of fact that the Lord Advocate has been closely involved in the preparation of those criminal proceedings in the United States.”
The crime drama Lockerbie: A Search for Truth was released last week. It stars Colin Firth as Jim Swire, an English doctor whose daughter was killed in the attack.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here