Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan national convicted for planting a bomb that killed 270 people onboard a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, has reportedly escaped along with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
‘The Daily Telegraph’ quoted witnesses as saying that as soon as rebels entered the capital Tripoli earlier this week, all traces of al-Megrahi were lost.
Britain had freed al-Megrahi in August 2009 on humanitarian grounds. The government felt he would soon die from cancer. But he survived and even appeared in public to support the Gaddafi regime.
"This man knows too many things. Gaddafi has taken him with him, wherever he is," said Hussein Barba, a Canada-educated doctor who lives behind al-Megrahi's house.
A modern two-storey villa in the upmarket Hay Damascus suburb of Tripoli was given as a reward by the Gaddafi regime. Neighbours said they believed al-Megrahi's wife was still living in the house.
They said they had ‘promised’ to protect his house while he was away and prevent anyone trying to get in, whether or not his wife was still there.
One said his son was still living in the area. He was using his father's BMW and staying with friends.
"He (al-Megrahi) goes from place to place to check on things. He was an ordinary person, not involved with the government. He had no reason to leave," he said.