THE man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing was too ill to say a word to his family as he died at his home in Tripoli.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi , 60, suffered from prostate cancer and was checked in to hospital for a few days in April before being sent back home to be with his wife Aisha and his five children.
On April 16, his brother, Abdelhakim had said his brother's days were numbered.
Abdelhakim said yesterday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly overnight after having been in and out of hospital for weeks. He died from prostate cancer complications shortly after 1pm local time (11am GMT)
He was surrounded by his family and died in his well-appointed home, a two-storey villa set behind high walls in Tripoli's upmarket Hay Damascus neighbourhood.
"My brother was surrounded by his wife, children and his mother as he took his last breath," said Abedelhakim.
"He was too sick to utter anything on his deathbed. We want people to know he was innocent."
Saad Nasser al Megrahi, a relative and a member of the ruling National Transitional Council, said Megrahi's health had seriously deteriorated in recent days and he died of cancer-related complications.
Neighbours rolled out a carpet and set up chairs in the courtyard outside his house in preparation for condolence visits by family and friends.
Meanwhile, a cordon of male family members stood around a large entrance gate, keeping journalists away.
"We are sorry, but we want to be alone," said Abdul Salem, Megrahi's nephew. "He is an innocent man. We want to have peace. We don't want to let journalists near to the house."
As many as a dozen cars were lined up in the street outside Megrahi's home after the announcement was made.
Megrahi's sister said his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery today following early afternoon prayers.
Rana Jawad, who was outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members have been making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences
Libya's National Transitional Council said his death would not end the Government's investigation into the Lockerbie attack.
"We would have liked to uncover more truths but his death will not shut the Lockerbie file," NTC spokesman Mohamed al Harizy said.
"The Libyan Government will continue to investigate the crimes committed by the Gaddafi regime using other witnesses."
Thus far, Libya's authorities have not begun any public investigation into the Lockerbie bombing, with officials predicting that no such case will be opened at least until a new government takes office following June elections.
Libyans told of their relief rather than sadness following news of Megrahi's death.
"With Megrahi death, the truth about Lockerbie goes with him to the grave, and I am sorry for that," said Dr Adel Anaiba, 49, a member of the Derna Local Council in eastern Libya. "As a Muslim, I must say God bless his soul, but, as a Libyan, I will remember him as the bad man he was."
Hani Ben Ali, 46, an industrial engineer living in Tripoli, echoed a sentiment often heard outside Libya, that there was much more to Lockerbie than Megrahi. "I think he was a scapegoat. I don't doubt that he was involved, but I do not believe he was the main player in all this."
In the streets around Hay Damascus many said Megrahi's death was a reminder of an era they prefer to forget.
"All Libyans know his face, and we know that he put us back maybe 10 years," said Arfa Mohamed, a 25-year-old cashier at a nearby fast-food shop. "Thanks to him, it gave the outside world a view of Libyans as terrorists."
"Was he innocent or guilty? Only God can know," said Mohammed Ferake, in a hardware store close to Megrahi's villa. "I never saw him. His family never shopped here. The [Lockerbie] case did not help Libya."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article