A key suspect in the Lockerbie bombing is set to be released from a Libyan jail on health grounds, it has been claimed.
The authorities in Tripoli are reported to be preparing to free Abdullah al-Senussi, nicknamed ‘the Butcher’, who was a key figure in dictator Colonel Gaddafi’s regime.
Senussi has been behind bars for 14 years and is said to be in poor health – but previous attempts to free him have been rejected.
Political and militia factions had sought to block the release orders, given Senussi’s status as one of the most prominent – and notorious – figures of the Gaddafi era.
The Arab Weekly reported that the Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has now officially approved Senussi’s release in a bid to win the trust of supporters of the former regime, particularly among major tribes.
In January, the Grand Mufti of western Libya, Sadiq al-Ghariani, called for the dismissal of justice minister Halima al-Busifi following her decision to free Senussi on medical grounds.
Senussi is accused of ordering the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996 when an estimated 1,270 prisoners were killed following an attempted revolt.
The Grand Mufti denounced the planned release as an ‘insult to the victims of Abu Salim and their families’ and accused the minister of being negligent in her job.
Abdullah al-Senussi could be released from jail on health grounds, it has been reported
In July, Senussi’s lawyer accused Dbeibah of ‘direct interference to halt a release order previously issued… for health reasons’.
Senussi was due to be handed over to US authorities in 2022 as part of renewed efforts to reopen the Lockerbie bombing case – but it was halted at the last minute.
Analysts say Dbeibah is seeking to gain political ground by broadening his support base and offsetting his declining popularity amid repeated calls for the formation of a new government.
Dbeibah’s popularity has fallen to its lowest level since late 2022, when his government handed over former Libyan intelligence officer Abu Agila Masud Kheir Al-Marimito the U.S where he awaits trial.
Dbeibah later admitted to the transfer, claiming Masud, as he is known, was Tunisian, and arguing for a distinction between Libya’s state responsibility for Lockerbie and the criminal case.
The U.S. wants Senussi, 76, to answer questions connected to the destruction of Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire in December 1988.
Senussi has long been suspected of recruiting and managing the late Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the bombing which killed 270 people – the worst ever terrorist atrocity in the UK.
The Crown Office declined to comment on Senussi’s case.
