The Libyan secret agent convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 has withdrawn his appeal against his conviction. The withdrawal is thought to be a condition that Abdel Basset al-Megrahi has to meet in order to secure early release on compassionate grounds.

He will reportedly be released from the Scottish jail where he is being held without serving out his 27 year sentence because he is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

Mr Megrahi was sentenced under Scottish law at a heavily guarded Dutch military base in 2001. He was found guilty of the bomb attack on a Pan Am flight to the United States which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.