Lockerbie bomber releases legal documents

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The only man convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing posted his legal defense to the Web on Friday, saying he hopes it will help convince people he had nothing to do with the terrorist attack that killed 270 people.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi said the 353 pages of legal arguments are part of an appeal of his conviction that was dropped shortly before he was released from a Scottish jail last month. The documents are particularly aimed at Scots and the families of the bombing's victims, he said.

All 259 people on board Pan Am Flight 103 — mostly Americans — and 11 people on the ground died on Dec. 21, 1988 when a bomb exploded mid-flight as the plane flew over Scotland.

"I will do everything in my power to persuade the public, and in particular the Scottish public, of my innocence," the terminally ill al-Megrahi said in a statement. "I hope that this can assist in the understanding of my case, especially for those who have been most profoundly affected by it."

Al-Megrahi, who was given only about three months to live by doctors, was freed last month by Scottish authorities on compassionate grounds.