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He was jailed for committing one of the worst acts of terrorism that the British people ever had to endure, but now convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi is hoping the Scottish government will show him mercy.

Reports started surfacing a few days ago that the 52 year old Libyan is hoping for an early release upon compassionate grounds as he has apparently been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.In response to media speculation that the man responsible for the deaths of 270 people could be free as soon as next week Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill told the BBC “Clearly, he is terminally ill, and there are other factors but I have made no decision as yet.” The minister did admit that he did have to do so fairly quickly.

Al Megrahi is a former Libyan secret service agent and was the sole person convicted of the bombing, which occurred aboard Pan Am Flight 103 in December of 2008. 259 people aboard the plane died, as well as 11 people on the ground in the town of Lockerbie where the plane crashed. He was tried with another man, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, but he was found not guilty by the Scottish courts and was allowed to return to Libya in 2001.

In 2007 Al Megrahi was granted an appeal of his conviction, but it was upheld by that court as well.

The prospect of Al Megrahi’s early release has upset many of the people who were affected over 20 years ago; the families and friends of the victims

In an interview with the BBC Kathleen Flynn of New Jersey, whose son J.P.died aboard the doomed aircraft said “It is terrible to think that someone who was responsible for the bombing could be released on compassionate grounds.”