London: Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Muhammad al-Megrahi, who was freed from a British prison on “compassion grounds” after being diagnosed for the terminal cancer, is expected to die “within four weeks”.
British cancer specialist Karol Sikora, who had advised the Scottish government to free Megrahi, said the convicted terrorist was spending his final days bed-ridden and on morphine.
“I say he will be dead within four weeks. My understanding is that he’s bed-bound, at home, not going to the hospital, receiving palliative care and no active treatment at all,” The Sunday Times quoted Sikora, as saying.
He dismissed claims that the seriousness of the Libyan bomber’s condition had been exaggerated to secure his release.
Sikora, who is being regularly updated by a doctor in Tripoli, said Megrahi’s cancer had spread from his prostate to his kidneys, liver, pelvis and lymph nodes.
According to him, doctors have even stopped Megrahi’s hospital visits in the past few weeks after he ceased responding to chemotherapy and other treatments.
Megrahi, 58, is the only person to be convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people.
When he was freed, Megrahi was given a life expectancy of three months.
However, experts had expressed "significant doubt" that Megrahi will die within the next three months.
This, combined with the fact that the former Libyan intelligence agent recently refused to have his medical records made public, has fuelled claims that his medical condition may have been exaggerated.
But Sikora rejected these allegations, saying that Megrahi’s life may have been extended by the “psychological boost” he received from being surrounded by his family.
ANI
