Schumer, Gillibrand: Imprison al-Megrahi again

New York's two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, on Monday asked the Libyan transitional government to send convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi back to jail, in light of what appears to be a rebel overthrow of the regime of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. But the senators stopped short of demanding that the rebels turn al-Megrahi over to the United States, as leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney did earlier Monday.

Al-Megrahi was convicted in Scotland of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and imprisoned, but was released in mid-2009 by the Scottish government in the belief that he was suffering from terminal cancer. When al-Megrahi returned to Libya, he was greeted as a hero by cheering crowds and met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on state television, earning scorn from American and British officials. Recently, al-Megrahi has made appearances at rallies on behalf of the Libyan leader as the civil war spread throughout the country.

“The release of al-Megrahi was a total miscarriage of justice," Gillibrand said in a statement. "Seeing him participate in good health at a pro-Qaddafi rally recently was another slap in the face not just for the families of the Lockerbie victims, but for all Americans and all nations of the world who are committed to bringing terrorists to justice."

Gillibrand called for al-Megrahi to be again imprisoned.  Schumer echoed the call.

"As a transitional government takes hold in Libya, it should seek to undo the injustice of al-Megrahi's release by returning him to the jail cell where he belongs," Schumer said. "A new Libya can send a strong statement to the world by declaring it will no longer be a haven for this convicted terrorist."

The cause is of particular importance to New York’s politicians, where many of the 189 American Pan Am victims lived. But neither senator asked for the new government to turn al-Megrahi over to the United States, as former Massachusetts governor Romney did.

"It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law," Romney said in as statement. "As a first step, I call on this new government to arrest and extradite the mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi, so justice can finally be done.”

In the United Kingdom, at least one member of Parliament, Conservative Robert Halfon, has called for al-Megrahi to be returned to prison in Scotland.