Libya has applied to the Scottish government for a former Libyan agent convicted and jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be sent back to his homeland.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in jail for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie as it flew from London to New York on December 18th, 1988, killing all 259 people on board, including 189 Americans, and 11 people on the ground.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said the application to transfer Megrahi would be considered in a process that could take around 90 days.
Megrahi (57) is suffering from prostate cancer.
The application for Megrahi to be allowed to go home was made under the terms of a Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Britain and Libya which was ratified last week.
Four years after Megrahi's conviction in 2001, Libya accepted responsibility and agreed to pay some $2.7 billion in compensation to the victims' families - a move that helped clear the way for the lifting of sanctions and the restoration of Libya's ties with Western states.
Megrahi's lawyers opened a second appeal against his conviction in a Scottish court last week, but sources close to the case say it may now be withdrawn.
Reuters