Lockerbie Conviction Appealed

Judges used evidence strewn with "contradictions and inconsistencies" to convict a Libyan former secret agent for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, an appeal court heard Thursday.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, 49, sat impassively as his lawyer told the second day of appeal hearings that trial judges had "misdirected themselves" -- drawn mistaken inferences -- to reach their guilty verdict last January.

Three judges sitting without a jury at this special Scottish court in the Netherlands jailed al-Megrahi for life for bombing London-New York Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

"This was a finely balanced, circumstantial case in which the trial court's misdirections ... were sufficiently material to have occasioned a miscarriage of justice," said William Taylor for al-Megrahi, quoting copiously from an 82 page-written judgment.

Testimony on soccer matches, Christmas decorations and rainfall more than 13 years ago was combed in minute detail as Taylor argued that trial judges erred in the date they said al-Megrahi bought clothes to swaddle the bomb -- Dec. 7, 1988.

That was a crucial plank upon which al-Megrahi's conviction was founded.

"If it's not December 7th, it can't be Megrahi," said Lockerbie expert John Grant, a Glasgow University law professor.

Al-Megrahi's lawyers also say vital new evidence has emerged since the trial which undermines the original judges' acceptance that the bomb bag was loaded in Malta, from where it flew via Frankfurt to London Heathrow to be placed on Pan Am 103.

They want to call former Heathrow security workers to testify that a padlock was forced on a secure door near a Heathrow baggage area hours before the jumbo jet was blown up.

Taylor focused in on the trial judges' handling of testimony by Maltese shop owner Tony Gauci, who identified al-Megrahi as the man who bought an umbrella and clothes packed around the bomb.

Gauci was the only witness out of 229 called during the trial to identify al-Megrahi, saying he had purchased clothing in Gauci's store that investigators later found at the crash site bearing the scorch marks of the bomb.

Gauci testified in July 2000 that a man resembling al-Megrahi purchased men's clothing, baby apparel and an umbrella from clothing boutique Mary's House in December 1988.

Taylor said the wide publication of al-Megrahi's photo in newspapers and the 12-year lapse between the trial and time of the purchase had biased the identification and rendered his testimony unreliable.

The defense repeated Thursday that during a police interview Gauci had once mistaken al-Megrahi for a Palestinian terrorist, Mohammed Abu Talb, jailed in Sweden.

Taylor said Gauci contradicted himself and presented inconsistencies which misled the initial judges in their findings.

During the appeal hearings, which are expected to last up to five weeks, the burden of proof lies with the defense. Prosecutors ned only reaffirm their support of last year's verdict, while the defense is contesting the trial court's conclusions.

"Taylor's really got to convince the court they made a mistake -- not just raise a reasonable doubt in their minds," said Glasgow University's Grant.

The case is being closely watched in the United States, which demands that Libya acknowledge responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and compensate the families of the 189 American victims before it considers lifting sanctions against Tripoli.

The United Nations ended sanctions in 1999 after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi handed over al-Megrahi and co-defendant Lamen Khalifa Fhimah for trial in neutral Netherlands. Fhimah was acquitted by the trial court a year ago.

If the conviction is upheld, al-Megrahi will be incarcerated in Glasgow's tough Barlinnie jail, where a cell prisoners dub the "Gaddafi cafe" awaits him. The trial judges recommended he serve at least 20 years of his mandatory life sentence. Scottish legal experts expect the appeals court to uphold the guilty verdict.

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