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| Lockerbie bomber in cancer battle | Lockerbie bomber in cancer battle |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is battling "advanced stage" cancer, his lawyer has said. | Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is battling "advanced stage" cancer, his lawyer has said. |
| The 56-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent has been diagnosed with prostate cancer after hospital tests last month. | The 56-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent has been diagnosed with prostate cancer after hospital tests last month. |
| Solicitor Tony Kelly said the disease had spread to other parts of his body. | Solicitor Tony Kelly said the disease had spread to other parts of his body. |
| Megrahi is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, which led to the deaths of 270 people. | Megrahi is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, which led to the deaths of 270 people. |
| Last week Megrahi won the latest round of his long-running legal battle to overturn his conviction. | |
| He has already lost an appeal against his 2001 conviction but the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) ordered another. | |
| List of objections | |
| In a 790-page report, the commission highlighted five reasons which led it to believe that Megrahi's conviction might be a miscarriage of justice. | |
| Appeal court judges rejected arguments from the Crown that only the concerns voiced by the commission should be considered when he appears before them. | |
| Megrahi's legal team asked for its own grounds of appeal to be added and submitted its list, running to 317 pages. | |
| No date has yet been fixed for a hearing which will finally decide whether the guilty verdict should stand. | |
| Megrahi's lawyer said: "Following hospital tests, Mr Megrahi was last month diagnosed with prostate cancer. | |
| "Unfortunately the disease has spread to other parts of his body and is therefore at an advanced stage. | |
| "Mr Megrahi asks that the privacy of his family is respected at this difficult time." | |
| Mr Kelly added: "He wishes me to make clear that the fight to overturn his wrongful conviction for the Lockerbie bombing will go on. | |
| "We on his legal team are continuing to prepare his appeal, which we hope will take place some time next year." |