The Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi finally turned up in Tripoli, after months of alluding US forces. El-Megrahi, who was convicted as the mastermind of bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December of 1988 that killed all 259 people on board and 11 in the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, was released after serving only eight years of a life sentence because of his ill health. He was diagnosed with prostrate cancer and given three months to live. However, the US and other Western governments have grown increasingly aggravated that he has outlived his sentence and demanded his return following the troubles in Libya (Kirkpatrick). .
Al-Megrahi received a hero's welcome by the Qaddafi regime, who took care of him until the recent death of Qaddafi. In July 2011, al-Megrahi attended a Tripoli rally to publicly display his support of Qaddafi (Fox News). .
However, the rebel government in Libya refuses to extradite al-Megrahi. The justice minister of Libya's transitional council believes that extraditing el-Megrahi would put him on the same level as Muammar el-Qaddafi in terms of betrayal (Kirkpatrick). .
"Al-Megrahi has already been judged once and he will not be judged again," said the minister, Mohammad el-Alagi. "We do not hand over Libya citizens. Qaddafi does" (Kirkpatrick). .
Hassan al Sagheer, a member of the National Transitional Council and a legal expert, agree, "Libya has never extradited or handed over its citizens to a foreign country. We shall continue with this principle" (Fox News). .
A senior judge who originally joined in the uprising against Qaddafi cited another reason for not extraditing el-Megrahi to Britain or the US. El-Megrahi belongs to one of the largest groups who were loyal to Qaddafi during the uprising. "Any move to hand him back would cause internal conflict at a time when we are trying to bridge differences," he said (Fox News). .
CNN reporters finally found al-Megrahi at his family's Tripoli villa.