Pan Am bomber reportedly in coma

TRIPOLI, Libya, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The health of the man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, has deteriorated and he is near death, friends said.

A person close to the family of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, now living in Libya, said his health was failing and each day is "expected to be his last," Sky News reported Thursday.

Al-Megrahi, diagnosed with prostate cancer; has been in a coma and on life support for about a week, family and friends said.

Al-Megrahi -- convicted of killing 259 people aboard the plane and 11 people on the ground in 1988 -- has been unable to walk for several weeks and is not expected to recover, sources told the BBC. Al-Megrahi, who prosecutors said was a Libyan intelligence agent, was convicted in 2001 of placing a bomb on the Boeing 747.

The Scottish government released him from Greenock Prison on compassionate grounds in August 2009. The decision drew international outrage and was condemned by relatives of the victims and by U.S. officials, including President Obama.