Lockerbie conviction to be appealed

Was this another victim of the lynch mob mentality that seems to take over after every terrorist action?

A Libyan man jailed over the 1988 Lockerbie aeroplane bombing has been given the right to appeal against his conviction.

The independent Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said on Thursday that it would refer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi's case to the High Court, a step taken in cases where there is a possible miscarriage of justice.

The former Libyan intelligence agent has been serving a life sentence in Scotland after being convicted in 2001 of the bombing of the Pan Am flight which killed 270 people.

"The commission is of the view, based upon our lengthy investigations, new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice," the panel said in a statement summarising its 800-page report.