Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The convicted Lockerbie bomber has been flown home to Libya after being freed from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988. The decision to release Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was made by the Scottish Government. US president Barack Obama said the decision was "a mistake" and some US victims' families reacted angrily. Some 189 Americans were among those who died in the explosion. Megrahi was released from Greenock Prison
'A convenient scapegoat?' Bomber release: What now? Grounds for compassionate release 'No prospect of recovery' A police convoy left Greenock Prison, where Megrahi was serving his sentence, just an hour after the announcement of his release was made. It was greeting by angry jeers from a small group of local residents. Megrahi was taken to Glasgow Airport where he boarded an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus plane bound for Tripoli, wearing a white track suit and clutching his prison release papers. The aircraft took off shortly before 1530 BST and arrived in the Libyan capital shortly after 1930 BST. The government said it had consulted widely before Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made his decision on applications for Megrahi's compassionate release or his transfer to a Libyan jail. He told a media conference on Thursday that he had rejected the application for a prisoner transfer. However, after taking medical advice it was expected that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of the time Megrahi had left to live. He ruled out the option of the Libyan being allowed to live in Scotland on security grounds. The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
In full: Statement from Megrahi And Mr MacAskill stressed that he accepted the conviction and sentence which had been handed to Megrahi. "Mr al-Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them," he said. "But that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days." Mr MacAskill continued: "Our justice system demands that judgement be imposed, but compassion be available. Fiona Trott
BBC News correspondent, in Lockerbie
After the Scottish justice secretary made his announcement, life continued as normal in rain-soaked Lockerbie. People were surprised by the decision he made - the real question was whether they had a strong opinion about it. When the bombing happened 21 years ago, this town was full of army personnel and the emergency services and local people who helped that night became heroes. But it happened a generation ago, and, while some American victims' families say his release is incomprehensible, people here in Lockerbie say they don't see things in black and white. Two families were wiped out here, but the immediate families of the other victims no longer stay in Lockerbie. Some say it's right Megrahi has been released because he is very ill. Does the decision bring everything to a close? People here say no. Even though they have put the event in the past, tourists from across the world still come here. For them, Lockerbie will always be known as the place where PAN AM flight 103 came down.
"For these reasons and these reasons alone, it is my decision that Mr Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and be allowed to return to Libya to die." Mr MacAskill had been under intense pressure from the US government to keep Megrahi behind bars, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying his release would be "absolutely wrong". "Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs the we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people - no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated," he added. In a statement released after his departure from HMP Greenock, Megrahi continued to protest his innocence. He said: "The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. "I have been faced with an appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted. "The choice which I made is a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never overcome." Reacting to the decision, US president Barack Obama said: "We have been in contact with the Scottish Government, indicating that we objected to this and we thought it was a mistake." He said they had also contacted the Libyan government to ask that Megrahi not be "welcomed back" but instead placed under house arrest. "We've also obviously been in contact with the families of the Pan Am victims and indicated to them that we don't think this was appropriate," he added. The bombing claimed 270 lives
Reaction: Lockerbie bomber freed The Libyan government has played down claims Megrahi would return to Tripoli a hero. He will be required to live permanently at a given address in Libya, must agree any change of address and must not travel from Libya without consent, the Scottish Government said. The families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing reacted angrily to the news of his release. Kara Weipz, of Mt Laurel, New Jersey, who lost her 20-year-old brother Richard Monetti, said: "I don't understand how the Scots can show compassion. It is an utter insult and utterly disgusting. "It is horrible. I don't show compassion for someone who showed no remorse." New York state resident Paul Halsch, whose 31-year-old wife was killed, said of Mr MacAskill's decision: "I'm totally against it. He murdered 270 people. "This might sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way my wife Lorraine was and that would be in a box." However, British relatives' spokesman Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the atrocity, said he believed Megrahi had "nothing to do with" the bombing. "I don't believe for a moment that this man was involved in the way that he was found to have been involved," he said. Have Your Say I am ashamed to be Scottish today. Where is the justice for the victims? Ross MacDonald, Edinburgh "I feel despondent that the west and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue because I am convinced had they done so it would have overturned the verdict against him. "It's a blow to those of us who seek the truth but it is not an ending. I think it is a splitting of the ways." The BBC's Christian Fraser in Tripoli said that until now, Libyan officials had been careful not to comment in case they jeopardised the release, wary of last minute interventions by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Officially there are unlikely to be any triumphant statements, but given the personal involvement of Mr Gaddafi it will no doubt be seen as further evidence of his growing stature on the international stage, our correspondent said. It is rumoured that he has asked to see Megrahi when he returns, and the timing is perfect - in 12 days' time Libya celebrates the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought Muammar Gaddafi to power, he added. Our correspondent said Megrahi's release has been billed by the leader as the new dawn for Libya, and to many it will be viewed as a more palatable ending to one of the darkest chapters in the country's history. Appeal dropped Megrahi was convicted of murder in January 2001 at a trial held under Scottish law in the Netherlands. A first appeal against that verdict was rejected the following year. However, in 2007 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission granted him a second appeal. It subsequently emerged he was suffering from terminal cancer but a bid to have him granted bail was refused. His second appeal got under way this year but shortly afterwards applications were made for both his transfer to a Libyan jail and release on compassionate grounds. Earlier this week the High Court in Edinburgh allowed Megrahi's application to drop his second appeal. LOCATIONS WHICH SHAPED MEGRAHI'S TRIAL
1. Tripoli, capital of Libya. Megrahi was born here on 1 April 1952, and worked - according to the FBI - for Libyan intelligence services.
2. Malta. Megrahi's day job, as security chief for Libyan Arab Airlines, took him to their office on the island. From there he would travel to Zurich. The bomb began its journey here in December 1988.
3. Zurich, Switzerland. The bomb's timing device was made and purchased here.
4. Frankfurt, Germany. On arrival, a suitcase later found to have contained the bomb was transferred from an Air Malta jet to a flight bound for London Heathrow.
5. London's Heathrow Airport. Pan Am flight PA 103 took off from Heathrow at 1825 GMT on Wednesday, 21 December 1988.
6. Lockerbie, Scotland. The bomb on Flight PA 103 exploded above the Scottish village at 1902 GMT.
7. Camp Zeist, Netherlands. Here, in a landmark trial, Scottish judges convicted Megrahi in 2001.
8. HMP Barlinnie. Megrahi served the first part of his sentence in this Scottish prison.
9. HMP Greenock. Megrahi was transferred from Barlinnie to Greenock in 2005.
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Memorial of , at Dryfesdale Cemetery 
, the only individual convicted in connection with the bombing of  in 1988, has been released by Scottish  , on compassionate grounds.

Megrahi is suffering from   and will be allowed to return to his home country of Libya.

270 people were killed when, on December 21, 1988, the  flight from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's  was destroyed by a bomb whilst in flight over southern Scotland.

A police convoy escorted Megrahi from his former prison home in  to , where he boarded an  flight to . He was told he could not remain in Scotland on security grounds.

In announcing the release on compassionate grounds, Justice Secretary MacAskill stated, "Al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. It is one that no court in any jurisdiction could revoke or overrule. It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die".

The conviction remains controversial. Last year then-president of US group ''Victims of Pan Am Flight 103'' told ''Wikinews'' that the vast majority were satisfied in Megrahi's guilt. ''UK Families Flight 103'' painted a very different picture to ''Wikinews'' of the opinions in Britain: "UK Families have different views about Megrahi's guilt or innocence.  Certainly some, including my husband and I, believe that we are not in a position to make a judgment about whether he was involved in some way or not," said group coordinator Jean Berkley, whose son was killed. "Much of the evidence at the trial was circumstantial and confusing and it is a fact that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, after considering the matter for three years, came to the conclusion that there were grounds for appeal. The UK families are united in believing that the full independent inquiry for which we have been asking since 1989 should now take place, to deal with the many unanswered questions and enable the evidence which would have emerged from the now abandoned appeal to be made public." This is in sharp contrast to '''', which earlier reported that the majority of British families felt Megrahi was innocent.

The United States government had been strongly opposed to any possible release. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had previously called the possibility "absolutely wrong". MacAskill sought to justify the decision by commenting that "Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people - no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated."

Megrahi issued a statement shortly before leaving HMP Greenock in which he maintained his innocence. "The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. I have been faced with an appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted. The choice which I made is a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never overcome," said Megrahi.

Robert Gibbs, press secretary for the White House, said "The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi. As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland." Many US victims have also reacted with anger. 

Many US victims' families have reacted with anger. One relative commented that "This might sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way my wife Lorraine was and that would be in a box." Dr. , a UK victim, disagreed, saying Megrahi had "nothing to do with" the disaster and calling the earlier dropping of the appeal "a blow to those of us who seek the truth."

Megrahi's plane was greeted by crowds in Tripoli waving both Libyan and Scottish flags. , son of Libyan leader , held his hand as he exited the aircraft amid heavy security. Loudspeakers broadcast patriotic music and it is reported that celebrations are ongoing in Tripoli.