His release lessens chance of a 'deathbed confession'

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Many relatives of the 270 victims and justice campaigners had hoped that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's second appeal against conviction would have finally shed light on what happened prior to the plane exploding over the Scottish Borders in 1988.

New evidence has come to light since al-Megrahi's first trial in 2001, and some documents seen by the prosecution have never been seen by his defence team. These are believed to include evidence from the CIA relating to the timer device used to explode the bomb. The UK Government has banned the publication of this evidence.

Al-Megrahi decided earlier this week to drop his second appeal. But today's decision by Scotland's Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, to release him on compassionate grounds lessens the chance of a "deathbed confession".

Al-Megrahi has long professed his innocence. His lawyers told his second appeal - his first failed in 2002 - that the case against him was "wholly circumstantial".

This appeal went ahead after a four-year inquiry which found there were six grounds on which to base a claim that a miscarriage of justice "may have occurred".

These focused on the bomb timer and the clothing it was wrapped in when part of it was found in a Scottish forest. The timers were linked to a Swiss manufacturer, which admitted supplying 20 devices to Libya.

A suspicious break-in a night before the explosion at the Pan Am cargo hold at Heathrow, which held the Samsonite suitcase with the radio player that contained the bomb, has also never been fully explained.