Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of US airliner PanAm flight 103 over the Scottish town in an incident which claimed 270 lives.
The former Libyan intelligence officer was later diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and controversially released from prison in August 2009 with an estimated three months to live.
The decision, by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, to free the only man ever convicted of the atrocity provoked an international storm.
His death yesterday in Tripoli, at the age of 60, was announced by his son, Khaled.
The news divided opinion. The mother of one passenger said she hoped the convicted terrorist suffered a "painful, horrible" death, while a spokesman for some of al-Megrahi's British victims said his death was "deeply regretted".
He was released from jail on August 20, 2009 on compassionate grounds and sent home to Lybia.
The bombing of the American plane, travelling from London to New York four days before Christmas, killed all 259 people on board.
Eleven residents of the Dumfries and Galloway town also died after the plane crashed on their homes in Britain's biggest terrorist atrocity. The death has sparked angry reaction from victims' families.
The mother of a young aspiring actress who was killed in the atrocity today said she hoped al-Megrahi had died "a painful, horrible death".
Susan Cohen's daughter Theodora, 20, was on board the doomed flight.
Speaking from her New Jersey home, Mrs Cohen, 74, said she believed al-Megrahi should have been given the death penalty.
"He died with his family around him. My daughter died a horrible death when she was 20 years old with her full life ahead of her. You call that justice?
"I feel no pity, I believe he should have died a lot sooner. He should have been tried in the States and given the death penalty. Watching him being released from prison was very painful for me."
Pamela Dix, lost her brother Peter, 35, in the bombing and said she fears she will never know what really happened.
Ms Dix, 54, of Surrey, said: "It closes the door - al-Megrahi dies a convicted man and our key to finding out what happened is gone and we will never have the opportunity to hear from him now."
But despite his death Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond insisted the Lockerbie case remained a live investigation.
"Mr Megrahi's death ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book," he said.
Insisting authorities would rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry into the atrocity, he added: "Scotland's senior law officer the Lord Advocate recently visited Libya, and we have been offered the co-operation of the new Libyan authorities.
"It has always been the Crown's position that Mr Megrahi did not act alone."
He said Megrahi's relatives could posthumously appeal his conviction by applying to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission.
And the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC said: "The investigation into the Lockerbie bombing will continue, to bring to justice the others involved."
After protracted international pressure, al-Megrahi was put on trial under Scots law at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
He was found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
He was freed from prison having served nearly eight years of his sentence after he dropped his second appeal against conviction at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
US families were among the most vocal critics of Mr MacAskill's decision, along with US president Barack Obama. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton branded the move "absolutely wrong".
American fury at the decision was compounded by the hero's welcome Megrahi received in Tripoli upon his return.
Prime Minister David Cameron has also come under pressure from some US senators for an independent inquiry into Mr MacAskill's decision.
But the move attracted support from some victims' relatives in Britain, and high profile figures such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for the victims of Lockerbie families, said: "His death is to be deeply regretted. I have never taken the view that he was guilty.
"Megrahi is the 271st victim of Lockerbie."
During his time in jail in the UK, Megrahi fought against his conviction. He protested his innocence to the end.
He lost an appeal in 2002 but got the chance to launch a second legal battle in 2007 when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred his case back to senior judges.
Following a £1.1million, three-year probe into the case, the commission said there were grounds where it believed a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
The appeal got under way in April, 2009, but was dropped days before al-Megrahi's release.
The SCCRC's report has not been made public, but the Scottish Government has vowed to bring about a change in the law to allow the paperwork to be published.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi's death was a "very sad event".
He believes there is evidence yet to be released that will prove Megrahi's innocence. He said he met al-Megrahi in Tripoli last December, adding "He wanted to talk to me about how information - accumulated could be passed to me after his death.
"He was determined - for his family's sake - that the verdict against him should be overturned. And he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
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