THOSE of us susceptible to the occasional bout of cynicism may find it something of a coincidence that on the day before the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing tragedy and in the wake of two new books (Lockerbie: The Truth by Douglas Boyd and The Lockerbie Disaster: 30 Years of Deceit by Robert John Simons) both making the case that Abdelbaset Al Megrahi was the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice, two new suspects should suddenly emerge.
Conveniently, Abdullah al Sennusi is related to Megrahi and there would therefore be no need for investigators to prove a link between the two. As it happens, Senussi is referenced nine times (and Abu Agila Mas’ud once) in John Ashton’s book Megrahi: You are my Jury – The Lockerbie Evidence, which was published in 2012, so it seems a little strange that any possible role these two may have had in the bombing did not come to light much earlier.
One other point which needs to be made in the context of whoever made the Lockerbie bomb is that anyone who takes the trouble to read pages 358-361 of the aforementioned book by John Ashton will discover that the timer used to trigger the bomb which brought down Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie was not one that had been supplied to Libya (which had been a central plank of the prosecution’s case at the Camp Zeist trial).
Alan Woodcock
Dundee
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here