Professor Robert Black has pointed out that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmad AL Megrahi's return to Libya would require him to drop his ongoing second appeal, whih is estimated to last up to a year.

Earlier today, the Scottish Government said it had received a transfer application from Libya for Megrahi's return.

"A prisoner may be transferred only if the judgment against him is final and no other criminal proceedings are pending in the transferring state," Black says.

"This means that Abdelbaset Megrahi's current appeal would have to be abandoned before transfer takes place. But it would seem on the face of it that there is no reason why the appeal should not continue while the Scottish Government is considering the application. Transfer cannot be effected without the consent of the prisoner concerned and it is he alone who can instruct the appeal to be abandoned to allow transfer to take place."

Crucially, the Scottish Government does not say if the request initially came from Megrahi via the Libyan embassy, or whether Libya made the request unilaterally. It is inconceiveable that the Libyan authorities would be unaware that Megrahi's return to Libya would end the current appeal.

Officials within the Scottish Government have made it known that such an application from Megrahi would be looked on 'favourably'. Megrahi's reaptriation would bring to an end the only ongoing inquiry into the cause fo the downing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie with the loss of 270 lives.