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Convicted Lockerbie Bomber is Innocent, Says Fhimah
EDINBURGH, Aug 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Libyan man cleared of the Lockerbie bombing has protested the innocence of the man found guilty in the case, news agencies reported Friday.
Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, a former station manager for Libyan Arab Airlines, told the Edinburgh-based daily,
The Scotsman, that he was "totally convinced" that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was not guilty, the BBC online service reported.
The two Libyans stood trial for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which was downed over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.
Fhimah was acquitted at the end of the eight-month trial after the panel of judges ruled there was no evidence that he had helped Megrahi plant the suitcase bomb.
Fhimah was found not guilty of the bombing at a special Scottish court in the Netherlands in January, but Al Megrahi was convicted and jailed for life.
However, the Crown Office announced on Thursday that Al Megrahi had been granted formal leave to appeal that conviction.
On Friday, The Scotsman published a report of an interview with 44-year-old Fhimah, who called for his friend to be freed, BBC said.
He told the paper, "I'm happy that the truth came out as far as I'm concerned.
"I hope that the same thing will happen soon to Mr. Megrahi and I will see him back in Libya. I am totally convinced he is innocent. I hope the appeal judges study this case carefully."
Fhimah said he was angry that the families of some of the American victims were still pursuing him for civil damages through the U.S. courts in a lawsuit, despite his acquittal.
He also said he believed it was an "accident" that the plane exploded above the Scottish town.
"Whoever was planning to bomb the aircraft, he didn't know where the aircraft would come down," he said.
"Scotland was involved by chance.
"The Scottish people became the victims by accident. You are dealing with a plane that was flying all over the land. I know this as an airline official."
Al Megrahi, 49, lodged notice of his intention to appeal against conviction in February, and his legal advisers lodged the full grounds for the appeal several months ago.
A judge made the decision that the appeal should go ahead.
The grounds for the appeal are not being made public, but Al Megrahi's defense team is likely to challenge evidence of Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, who identified Al Megrahi as a man who bought clothing from his store shortly before the bombing.
The remains of those clothes were found scattered around Lockerbie after the bombing and there was evidence that the items had been packed around the device that blew up the aircraft, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The reliability of Gauci's evidence was questioned during the trial.
The defense is also expected to question whether the trial judges were entitled to decide that Al Megrahi was the man who bought the clothes, AFP added.
Earlier this month, Al Megrahi's lead defense lawyer, Ibrahim Legwell, said he was confident his client would soon be freed.
English barrister, Michael Mansfield, and U.S. human rights lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, are also involved in the fight to free Al Megrahi.
Al Megrahi's spokesman said a date had been fixed for a preliminary appeal hearing in October at Camp Zeist in The Netherlands, as was the original case, but did not give the exact date, AFP said.
The appeal will be considered by five judges.
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