Schumer: Megrahi should be re-jailed

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi should be returned to a Scottish jail because he has not yet died, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says.

Megrahi, the only person ever convicted in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people, was released from jail by the Scottish government on humanitarian grounds because his terminal cancer gave him only three months to live. But three months later, al-Megrahi is still alive in Libya, and thus should be returned to prison, Schumer said in a statement released Friday.

"The bottom line is (al-Megrahi) should have never been released in the first place but it would be even more outrageous if he were to be able to live a long and free life after his release," Schumer said. "The victims of Pan Am Flight 103 didn't get a second chance at life and neither should (al-Megrahi.) Justice in this case was life in prison, no exceptions."

The U.S. senator there has been speculation about exaggerations of the severity of al-Megrahi's cancer, and urged the British government should seek his immediate transfer back to prison in Scotland.