- The Libyan government has signed a prisoners' transfer agreement with Britain in Tripoli today, a senior Libyan official has said.
According to officials, the agreement will pave way for a Libyan man, Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi, convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, to apply to serve the rest of his sentence in a Libyan jail.
The agreement comes just a day after Mr Megrahi begun an appeal of his conviction in a Scottish court. He was jailed in 2001 for his role in the bombing of a plane that killed 270 people in December 1988.
The prisoner transfer deal was one of four judicial cooperation agreements signed by the director of legal affairs at the Libyan foreign ministry, Mohammed es-Sagaier, and the British ambassador to Tripoli, said the Libyan official.
Mr Megrahi has already lost one appeal against his conviction for the 1988 atrocity. Since then he has been in prison in Scotland, and must remain in jail until at least 2026.
A Scottish court ruled in 2003 that Mr Megrahi must serve at least 27 years of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Mr Megrahi who has since his conviction for the bombing denied all the charges leveled against him was denied bail last November under severe medical condition. He is reported to have severe prostate cancer according to a team of medical experts.
The appeal at the Criminal Appeal Court in Edinburgh expected to last for a month is being heard by five judges, headed by Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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