Syrian-born American says claims ‘are all lies’
about is full of f***ing lies. It’s a bloody lie.”
Author Boyd wrote in his book: “Megrahi was convicted on a tissue of lies. Little of the evidence against him can be taken at face value.
“It is a story of incompetence, vengeance, political expediency and then a cover-up orchestrated from the highest levels in London and in Washington – where the real bomber is said to live today, under cover of a witness protection scheme.”
Al-Megrahi, the former head of security at Libyan Arab Airlines, was jailed for life at a special court sitting in the Netherlands in 2001.
Many believed some of the evidence was weak. He was identified as buying clothes in Malta that were later found in the Lockerbie luggage. Megrahi died at home in 2012 from prostate cancer, aged 60, having been released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds three years previously.
It is believed he planned to reveal Elias’ new identity in a bid to clear his own name.
However, two weeks after being freed to return to Tripoli, SNP politician Christine Grahame used Scottish Parliamentary privilege to identify the man she said was Elias.
She said at the time: “Why were there no criminal prosecutions following the shooting down of the Iranian Airbus by the USS Vincennes in 1988, five months before Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie?
“Was there a contract issued by the Iranian authorities to the PFLP-GC to take revenge for the death of 290 Iranian pilgrims, 60 of whom were children, by bringing down an American plane bringing its pilgrims home for Christmas?
“Why have the US authorities not queried the true identity of [name withheld] alias Abu Elias, a senior figure in the PFLP-GC at the time of the bombing and nephew of Ahmed Jibril, former head of that terrorist organisation?”
We asked the suspect where he was on December 21, 1988 – the day of the bombing. He replied: “I was in the United States. The FBI saw my journal they know I was in South West Washington DC handling my job.”
The married dad refused to answer where he was born or when he moved to the US although he said he had been to London “many times”.
The man called author Boyd a “son of a bitch” and said he had written his book “to make some money”. He added: “I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen bits of it. I would not pay a penny for that book.”
Speaking to the Mirror, SNP politician Ms Grahame said: “These various discoveries that you have made builds further on the case that it was, as many of us believe, Iran that was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing and that Megrahi was the fall guy. Libya took the rap for various international reasons.”
A review of the Megrahi case is being carried out by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
It comes after the Megrahi family handed files to the commission in 2017 in a bid for a posthumous appeal.
Their lawyer Aamer Anwar said this week: “Many believe that Megrahi was the victim of a miscarriage of justice and the finger of blame has long been pointed in the direction of Iran.”