Lockerbie Victim’s Sister Welcomes More Investigation into Bombing
2009-10-26 9:50
Pam Dix, whose brother was killed on PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, has welcomed the Scottish authoritie's announcement that police are focusing on possible accomplices of convicted former Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.
Dix wants a full, independent, and public inquiry into the matter.
[Pam Dix, Victim’s Sister]:
"The problem with the criminal investigation
— a prosecution of one man
— is that they seek to either prove his guilt, and he seeks to prove his innocence, but that doesn't necessarily lead us in the direction of the big picture. What was the motivation behind it? Who planned it? How was it allowed to take place?"
The attack killed 270 people aboard the plane and on the ground. Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in August, because he is terminally ill with prostate cancer.
The decision to let him return home to Libya infuriated the U.S. government, and many relatives of the 189 Americans killed.
The Scottish Crown Office says that authorities will not re-open the case into Megrahi, but would focus on who might have worked with him.
Eleven relatives of the victims went to Downing Street on Friday to hand in a letter to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, calling for an inquiry into the bombing.
Dix calls on both the British and Libyan governments to assist.
[Pam Dix, Victim’s Sister]:
"Libya ought to cooperate with any further inquiries around Lockerbie, and that they are duty bound to do that. And that our government as host nation for PanAm 103 is duty bound to assist in getting to the bottom of what happened."
The British government has resisted demands for an independent inquiry, and denies pressing the Scottish government to free Megrahi to help improve business ties with Libya.
