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Lawyers for the Libyan man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie are calling for the release of their client because he has terminal cancer.
Attorneys for Abdel Basset al-Meghrahi Thursday asked Scotland's High Court to release him on bail while he awaits the results of an appeal against his conviction.
The lawyers argued that their client does not have long to live and deserves to be treated with compassion.
But prosecutors said Megrahi committed an "incomparably grave" crime and should not be granted bail.
Megrahi's lawyers said last month that their client has been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which has spread to other parts of his body.
Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence agent, stood trial in The Hague in 2001 for his role in the bombing of Pan Am flight 203, which killed 270 people.
Libya has recently paid $1.5 billion into a compensation fund for claims related to Libyan terrorist attacks. Those attacks include the Lockerbie bombing and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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