JIM SWIRE, whose daughter died in the Lockerbie bombing, has written an open letter to Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill pleading with him to release the man convicted of the atrocity.

JIM SWIRE, whose daughter died in the Lockerbie bombing, has written an open letter to Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill pleading with him to release the man convicted of the atrocity.

His call follows a meeting this week between Mr MacAskill and three relatives of victims to discuss the fate of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer.

The minister is considering an application for Megrahi's transfer to Libya.

Megrahi is currently appealing his conviction and would have to drop the appeal in order for the Prisoner Transfer Agreement to tale effect.

However, Dr Swire has asked the minister to find a way of allowing the judicial process to continue.

He wrote: "To allow the appeal to be abandoned would be a body blow to the international reputation of Scotland and to domestic confidence in our judicial system for a generation."

It is not known if Megrahi, who is serving 27 years in Greenock Prison for the 1988 bombing that killed 270 people, will last the appeal process.

The next stage of the appeal is due to begin in the autumn.