[tipoboy]

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has flown out of Britain after being freed from prison to die at home in Libya.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, left Glasgow airport in a chartered jet bound for Tripoli.

He had been driven from HMP Greenock in a police convoy after being released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Megrahi was serving a life sentence for murdering 270 people when a Pan Am plane was brought down over the Scottish town in 1988.

But in a move which caused outrage in the United States, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi would now be released early from prison because of his worsening medical condition.

He said Megrahi "now faces justice from a higher power ... he is going to die".

Megrahi left Greenock prison with a police escort and was flown home to Libya, where he will rejoin his family.

In the build-up to his decision, Mr MacAskill came under intense US pressure to keep Megrahi behind bars. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it would be "absolutely wrong" to release Megrahi, and American relatives have been fiercely critical of the reported plans.

In a lengthy statement, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi had shown no compassion to his victims, but added: "That alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days."

The decision will be debated in the Scottish Parliament, which has been recalled to sit on Monday.