Homecoming for a tragic hero is emblematic of the end of an era, contends Gamal Nkrumah Abdel-Basset Al-Megrahi was playing a starring role as the former security chief of the Libyan Arab Airlines. But the former director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, became more like a bit part in a farce when he was officially declared the only man convicted over the 1988 bombing of an American passenger plane over the Scottish village of Lockerbie. The conduct of a proper trial would have strengthened the West's claim to be determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. It would also have assisted in addressing criticisms that they were collaborating closely with a Gaddafi who had allegedly eroded democratic freedoms in Libya. After what appeared to be a mock trial in a kangaroo court in Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, he was convicted in 2001 and promptly dispatched to Scotland where he served his 27- year sentence in several Scottish prisons, before being released on compassionate grounds and returning to Libya. Scottish medical practitioners predicted that Al-Megrahi would live for a mere three months but, as it happened, he lived for three more years among his family and friends in Tripoli. The mystery surrounding his eventual release from bondage has led to widespread suspicion that he was poisoned, he contracted prostrate cancer in Scottish prison. Al-Megrahi's family contend that exposure to radiation in successive prisons might have led to the fatal ailment. With the blood of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's loyal supporters and innocent bystanders on the streets of Libyan cities many -- especially Gaddafi loyalists of the Green Resistance Movement -- reaffirm their commitment to the late Libyan leader in the wake of Al-Megrahi's passing. The ruling National Transitional Council, however, retort that the Green Resistance Movement will use everything in their bloody arsenal and every occasion at their disposal, including Al-Megrahi's death, to obstruct the cause of democracy in the post- Gaddafi Libya. Concerns remain across Libya that conditions across the country will spin out of control. Al-Megrahi's family, however, has distanced itself from both the Green Resistance and the NTC. Libya's NTC is bracing itself for yet another crisis of confidence. Al-Megrahi was hailed as a returning hero when he stepped unto the tarmac of Tripoli's International Airport. None other than Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Seif Al-Islam received him on arrival in Tripoli. He was warmly embraced first by the son at the airport and later by the father himself at Al-Aziziya Barracks, Gaddafi's favourite bolt-hole bunker. As for politics, the NTC harbours overblown hopes, that Al-Megrahi's death is yet another nail in the coffin of the Gaddafi era. Even still, Libya's new rulers have stubbornly refused to grant British detectives and Interpol police permission to travel to Libya to investigate the case of Al-Megrahi. However, they failed to provide convincing grounds for their decision. The NTC has summarily dismissed Al-Megrahi's family's protests that he was a scapegoat, cruelly used by the late Libyan leader and his henchmen. Many within the NTC argue that Al-Megrahi's tribe, the Megarha, were among the staunchest supporters of the slain Libyan leader. They pledged to look into the case themselves, much to the chagrin of the Al-Megrahi family and many members of the international community including the families of the victims of the air disaster themselves. The destruction of PAN-AM flight 103 in midair which killed 270 people, mostly British and American citizens, continues to be a most contentious and controversial issue. But the NTC calls the shots in post-Gaddafi Libyan political showdown. The NTC investigation of Al-Megrahi's home will no doubt be closely watched in the US and Europe. A transparent, fairly conducted trial permitting Al-Megrahi to clear his name posthumously could bring justice and a sense of propriety. That could be particularly powerful in post- Gaddafi Libya, a country where the rule of law is feeble even by former Gaddafi-era standards, but will the post-mortem trial by the NTC be just and fair? There are, sadly, strong reasons to doubt such an outcome. Al-Megrahi was buried in a cemetery in Jansour Tripoli's westernmost district. A pitiful few family members, including his four sons, accompanied his coffin. Draped simply with a white cloth as it was deposited in a simple grave that appeared more like a sandpit, the scene was in sharp contrast to his rapturous welcome three years ago. If there is a criticism of the NTC's proposed investigation into the Al-Megrahi case, it is that the new rulers of Libya are too timid. The Al-Megrahi case risks eroding the authority of the NTC. Today, as Al-Megrahi's passing is mourned, those making the argument for action to unearth the truth about Lockerbie are in grave danger of being silenced. Western powers will use all sorts of tricks to drive out those who want to see justice for the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The democratic gains that the Arab Spring has achieved in Libya, with the Western propaganda agenda and NATO military might are in danger of being eroded by the West which will not sit still. "There are a number of vested interests who have been deeply opposed to this appeal continuing as they know it would go a considerable way towards exposing the truth behind Lockerbie," Scottish MP Christine Grahame insists. The answer to the Al-Megrahi mystery is a long way. Debate about Lockerbie gets tugged back to sidelines. "Al-Megrahi had nothing to do with the bombing of PAN-AM 103," the Scottish parliamentarian asserted. Tom Dalyell, former Labour MP for West Lothian concurred with Grahame and former South African president Nelson Mandela who believes that Al-Megrahi was a "victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice".
