Ian Ferguson, investigative journalist and author of "Cover Up of Convenience" has said that the Crown Office in Edinburgh were "rejoicing" when Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi dropped his appeal.

He also hinted that the progress of the case had been deliberately slowed down whilst Megrahi's cancer debilitated him.

"From the start there was a determination to try to prevent this appeal being heard," he said.

"It opened but never got off the ground, with stall after stall as each month Megrahi weakened with the cancer that was killing him. There was rejoicing in the Crown Office in Edinburgh when he was released and the appeal abandoned."

Ferguson had visited Megrahi many times and was privy to close quarters insights into how the progress of the case affected him. His revelations support the growing acknowledgement that decisions made at international political level were forced through the Scottish legal system.

"There may well be political manoeuvres behind his release but at the heart was a decision to save the face of the Scottish judiciary - in particular the Crown Prosecution, who would have been shown to have been involved in an abuse of process by non-disclosure of witness statements. Megrahi was made the scapegoat for whatever reason and from that point everything went in reverse to try to make the crime fit."

"Had this appeal gone ahead and witnesses recalled and cross-examined, I believe it would be shown that some had most definitely perjured themselves or deliberately misled the court.  It is no wonder that some people were hoping Megrahi would die before certain witnesses were called."