A judicial review panel has recommended that a former Libyan intelligence agent convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, be granted an appeal for a second time.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who is currently serving a life sentence, was the only person convicted in the bombing, which killed 259 people on the plane, including two Canadians, and 11 on the ground.
"The commission is of the view, based upon our lengthy investigations, new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice,'' the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said in a statement summarizing its 800-page report.
The report will be given to the Court of Appeal and a decision will be made on whether an appeal is warranted.
"Some of what we have discovered may imply innocence; some of what we have discovered may imply guilt. However, such matters are for a court to decide," said Rev. Graham Forbes, the commission's chairman.
Al-Megrahi has always maintained his innocence and his lawyers contend that British and U.S. authorities helped sway the case towards a guilty verdict.
They claim authorities tampered with evidence, disregarded witness statements and guided investigators away from evidence that the plot was financed by the Iranians and carried out by Palestinians.
His lawyers say Tehran devised the plot after the U.S. military shot down a civilian Iranian airliner months earlier.
Pan Am Flight 103, from London to New York, exploded over Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988.
In 2003, the Libyan government, while never formally admitting guilt, agreed to pay US$270 million in compensation to the families of Lockerbie victims. The deal helped lift UN sanctions against the country.
Still, some families of the Lockerbie victims have argued against al-Megrahi's 2001 conviction. Another Libyan suspect was acquitted in the case.
With files from The Associated Press
