By Matthew Champion.
Libya will risk provoking the ire of London and Washington today when the Lockerbie bomber features in celebrations marking the coup that brought Colonel Gaddafi to power.
Six days of commemorative celebrations will begin in Tripoli today, 40 years after Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the country's first and last king in a bloodless coup.
According to the Times, a video of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's return to the country last week featured in a dress rehearsal of tonight's two-hour ceremony in the Libyan capital.
Megrahi was freed last month on compassionate grounds eight years into a life sentence for the murder of 270 people after the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988.
The decision by the Scottish government to release the terminally-ill bomber on compassionate grounds has provoked controversy at home and abroad, further exacerbated by the hero's welcome he received upon his return in Tripoli.
Megrahi is too ill to take part in tonight's celebrations, but the Times said on Tuesday a video of his arms being held aloft by Col Gaddafi's son Saif will be the finale to the event.
No European head of state, Malta aside, is attending the celebrations, with the Gaddafi coup commemorations attracting Venezuelan, Zimbabwean and Sudanese presidents Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe and Omar al-Bashir.
The perceived flaunting of Megrahi will anger the US, who lost 180 people on board Pan Am flight 103, and Britain, where the government is attempting to distance itself from reports the initial release of the bomber was linked to oil deals.
Both the Scottish and Westminster governments are publishing documents they say will justify the release of the 57-year-old.
Full story: Lockerbie letters published
Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, has repeatedly insisted the decision to release Megrahi was 'mine and mine alone'.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, Gordon Brown reiterated that he had told Col Gaddafi at the recent G20 summit in L'Aquila that Megrahi's fate would be determined by the Scottish government.
'I made it absolutely clear to him... it was a matter for the Scottish executive and it was their decision, and their decision alone, that would decide it,' he said.
Libya will risk provoking the ire of London and Washington today when the Lockerbie bomber features in celebrations marking the coup that brought Colonel Gaddafi to power.
Six days of commemorative celebrations will begin in Tripoli today, 40 years after Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the country's first and last king in a bloodless coup.
According to the Times, a video of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's return to the country last week featured in a dress rehearsal of tonight's two-hour ceremony in the Libyan capital.
Megrahi was freed last month on compassionate grounds eight years into a life sentence for the murder of 270 people after the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988.
The decision by the Scottish government to release the terminally-ill bomber on compassionate grounds has provoked controversy at home and abroad, further exacerbated by the hero's welcome he received upon his return in Tripoli.
Megrahi is too ill to take part in tonight's celebrations, but the Times said on Tuesday a video of his arms being held aloft by Col Gaddafi's son Saif will be the finale to the event.
No European head of state, Malta aside, is attending the celebrations, with the Gaddafi coup commemorations attracting Venezuelan, Zimbabwean and Sudanese presidents Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe and Omar al-Bashir.
The perceived flaunting of Megrahi will anger the US, who lost 180 people on board Pan Am flight 103, and Britain, where the government is attempting to distance itself from reports the initial release of the bomber was linked to oil deals.
Both the Scottish and Westminster governments are publishing documents they say will justify the release of the 57-year-old.
Full story: Lockerbie letters published
Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, has repeatedly insisted the decision to release Megrahi was 'mine and mine alone'.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, Gordon Brown reiterated that he had told Col Gaddafi at the recent G20 summit in L'Aquila that Megrahi's fate would be determined by the Scottish government.
'I made it absolutely clear to him... it was a matter for the Scottish executive and it was their decision, and their decision alone, that would decide it,' he said.
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