Lockerbie bomber’s family launches new bid to clear his name

LONDON – The family of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is launching a fresh effort to posthumously clear his name.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar will be handing a dossier of evidence to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission as soon as this week. The commission will decide whether to hand the case to an appeals court.

Al-Megrahi was convicted of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988.

The bomb shattered the New York-bound Boeing 747, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. Many victims were American college students flying home for Christmas.

Al-Megrahi lost one appeal and abandoned another before being freed in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He died of cancer in 2012, still protesting his innocence.