Lockerbie Bomber of Pan Am 103 Plane Crash Released: Reactions

Susan Cohen, mother of Theo Cohen, a 20-year-old Syracuse University student killed in the bombing, described the release as "an absolutely disgusting disgrace".

Bob Monetti of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, whose 20 year-old son Rick was on the plane, said: "Personally I always thought compassion came just after somebody said 'forgive me,' and those are words I've never heard. Maybe some people are much more forgiving than I am."

“He has three months left to live, and he’s allowed to be with his family, which is three months we were not allowed,” said Bright.

Suse Lowenstein, of Montauk, New York, whose Alexander Lowenstein was killed at age 21, said of Thursday's news:

"It is so devastating and it is difficult for me to accept that the one man we had responsible for the murders of our son and the 270 victims in total is now going home to die in the arms of his family. It is just beyond comprehension.

"He has the luxury to be at home with his family, which our son did not have. He was murdered at the age of 21, and surely if he had to die he would have liked to die with us as well."

After the plane took off, a statement by Megrahi was released in which he maintained his innocence. "I am obviously very relieved to be leaving my prison cell at last and returning to Libya, my homeland,"

"And I say in the clearest possible terms, which I hope every person in every land will hear: all of this I have had to endure for something that I did not do."

The Rev John Mosey, whose daughter Helga, 19, died in the attack, said it was "right he should go home to die in dignity with his family".