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Its 800-page report prompted an appeal on al-Megrahi's behalf, but
by then his fate was in the hands of politicians in London, Tripoli
and Edinburgh, all of whom jockeyed for position as Libya rebuilt
its ties with Britain and al-Megrahi's health deteriorated. Still protesting his innocence, al-Megrahi dropped the appeal in a bid to clear the path for his release on compassionate grounds. He flew home to a hero's welcome in 2009. Al-Megrahi's death should not be an excuse to stop trying to find out who was behind the bombing, Cohen said. She called on U.S. and British officials to "dig even deeper" into the case. The Scottish government said Sunday that it will continue investigating the Lockerbie bombing. Bert Ammerman of River Vale, N.J., lost his brother in the bombing. He blames the U.S. and Britain for failing to track all leads in the case and noted that Gadhafi's former spy chief was arrested in March in Mauritania. "He holds the key to what actually took place in Pan Am 103," Ammerman said. "He knows what other individuals were involved and, more importantly, what other countries were involved." After Gadhafi's fall, Britain asked Libya's new rulers to help fully investigate but they put off any probe.
"Ironically, 24 years later, I now have more confidence in the new Libyan government than the British or American governments to find the truth because I believe Libya would like the truth to come out to show that they were not the only country involved," Ammerman said. Jim Swire, whose 19-year-old daughter, Flora, died in the bombing, is a leading voice for some of the British families who believe al-Megrahi was innocent. Swire, who attended the trial in the Netherlands, asked for further inquiry from the Scottish government. He said he saw al-Megrahi in December. "We talked as two old friends who were saying goodbye," he said.
[Associated
Press;
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