A Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 may have suffered “a miscarriage of justice”, according to a Scottish authority that reviewed his case.

Its 820-page report, made public on the internet for the first time last Sunday, is the most significant official statement yet giving credibility to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi’s claim that he is innocent.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission cast doubts on the credibility of crucial evidence given by Sliema shopkeeper Tony Gauci, a key prosecution witness, who had identified Mr Megrahi as “the Libyan” who bought clothes from his shop.

After reviewing Mr Gauci’s confused testimony about the day when Mr Megrahi was supposed to have bought the clothes from his shop and the problems related with his identification of the man, the commission said it was of the opinion that “no reasonable trial court could have drawn the inference” that Mr Megrahi was the purchaser of the clothes.

The Pan-Am flight bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 killed 270 people and shards of clothing believed to have been in the suitcase containing the bomb were traced back to Mr Gauci’s shop, Mary’s House in Sliema.

The report was published online by the Scottish Sunday Herald after it obtained a copy of the extensive review.

Mr Gauci and his brother Paul initially refused to collaborate fully with the commission but then accepted to be interviewed in August 2006.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

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