Lockerbie bomber appears weak, disengaged

TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- The convicted Lockerbie bomber looked weak and unable to engage with others when he made a brief public appearance at a Libyan hospital, a CNN reporter said.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, released from prison in Scotland last month on the grounds he had terminal cancer, sat slumped in a wheelchair during his brief appearance before a group of African lawmakers and some invited journalists, Nic Robertson said.

Al-Megrahi coughed deeply and his whole body shook as the pan-African parliamentarians made speeches, Robertson said.

He said al-Megrahi wore a surgical-type mask on his face and was connected to an intravenous drip. A nurse regularly took his pulse.

U.S. President Barack Obama told British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Thursday he was disappointed by Scotland's release of al-Megrahi, the White House said.

"The president expressed his disappointment over the Scottish executive's decision to release convicted Pan Am 103 bomber al-Megrahi back to Libya," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

Washington expressed regret at al-Megrahi's release last month, but Obama had not personally expressed this to Brown.