Washington - The White House said on Tuesday that dying Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi should stay in a Scottish prison as the Edinburgh government mulls his fate after he dropped an appeal.
"It is the policy of this administration as enunciated by Secretary of State (Hillary) Clinton, that this individual should serve out his term where he's serving it right now," said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is mulling several options for Megrahi, jailed for killing 270 people in 1988 in the bombing of a Pan Am jet: moving him to jail in his home country of Libya; freeing him on compassionate grounds or keeping him in a Scottish prison.
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Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, wants to spend his remaining days with his family in his home country, and dropped his appeal to remove one obstacle to his return.
Some US relatives of victims of the Lockerbie disaster, who have doubts about the conviction, say shelving the appeal will obscure vital answers about the case, including who instigated the crime.
The US government has been piling pressure on the Scottish government over the issue.
Clinton called MacAskill at the weekend to press Washington's view that the Libyan should stay behind bars in Scotland.
The US pressure was underlined by a letter from seven US senators demanding he complete his sentence.
"We believe he (Megrahi) should remain in Scotland to complete his sentence in prison," the letter from senators including Edward Kennedy and former presidential hopeful John Kerry said. - Sapa-AFP
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