NEW YORK – Families of victims killed in the bombing of a US airliner over Scotland in 1988 said justice was served with the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy, but they also hoped it would reveal others behind the attack.
I hope he’s in hell with Hitler, said Kathy Tedeschi (62), whose first husband, Bill Daniels, was among the 270 people killed in the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
“I just can’t stop crying, I am so thrilled. I am sure he was the one who pushed to have this done, the bombing,” Tedeschi added. Her three children were 10, seven and two when their father was killed.
Gadafy’s death sparked wild celebrations in Libya that eight months of war may finally be over. His killing was announced by officials of the National Transitional Council and backed up by a photograph of his bloodied body.
Bob Monetti, whose son Richard (20) was killed in Lockerbie, said: “The world is a much better place without Gadafy and Libya is certainly much better off. I hope we can get some more information and get on with our lives. I am way past vengeance.”
The PanAm airliner exploded as it flew to New York from London on December 21st, 1988. All 259 people aboard the aircraft were killed and 11 others on the ground died from falling wreckage.
Libyan agent Abdel Basset al- Megrahi was convicted of bombing of the airliner in January 2001 by a three-judge Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. The court acquitted his co-defendant, Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima.
Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond said al-Megrahi did not act alone. “Our police and prosecution authorities stand ready to investigate and follow any new lines of inquiry that may be emerging in Libya at the present moment.”
Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of PanAm 103 group, said now that Gadafy was dead, he hoped that more evidence would turn up to prove the involvement of other people, “but it was clear that Gadafy himself ordered this”.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life but was released by Scottish authorities on health grounds in August 2009, which infuriated members of the victims group.
Sure the guy is supposedly dying, but he also knows who else is behind it and he should be in prison and that’s where he should die, said Brian Flynn, vice president of the Victims of PanAm 103 group. “There were other people behind the bombing, it wasn’t just al-Megrahi and it wasn’t just Gadafy.”
Flynn’s brother JP was killed in the bombing.
He added: “We have been saying for more than 20 years . . . that he [Gadafy] would continue to haunt the world until he was brought to justice. We can take a certain sense of accomplishment that we were able to honour our loved ones and not give up.” – (Reuters)