‘Ordeal’ did not end with release

HE shuffled on to the private jet at Glasgow Airport stooped in a white tracksuit and cap, and stepped off in Tripoli several hours later, smartly dressed in a dark-grey suit, to a hero’s welcome.

Megrahi’s return to Libya in 2009, sparked headlines around the world.

The fact he was met by Gaddafi’s son Saif caused consternation for some – as did the waving of the Saltire at his welcome home party. Celebrations extended that night with crowds gathering in Tripoli’s Green Square.

Megrahi claimed that day his “horrible ordeal” had not ended with his release from HMP Greenock.

He said in a statement: “It may never end for me until I die. Perhaps the only liberation for me will be death. And I say in the clearest possible terms, which I hope every person in every land will hear: all of this I have had to endure for something that I did not do.”

Saif Gaddafi, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, later told journalists that securing Megrahi’s release was one of his biggest achievements.

There are claims Megrahi was linked to the Gaddafi family through an old tribal connection.

But Megrahi did have ties to the regime as a cousin of Said Rashid, once an influential member of the Libyan government.

Megrahi was last seen in public in July last year at a pro-gaddafi rally. A television presenter introduced Megrahi to the camera, before declaring his imprisonment as a “conspiracy”.