A helicopter airlifted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed
al-Megrahi out of the special prison and court
compound at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands on
Thursday evening.
The S76 long-range helicopter flew low over the trees
which surround Camp Zeist.
It landed between the court
room and the prison where
al-Megrahi has been held
since April 1999.
Dutch army personnel had
earlier rigged powerful lights
to help it land and fire
tenders and ambulances
stood by.
The camp had been sealed and an increased number
of armed Scottish police were in evidence behind the
gates.
The aircraft's engines were turned off for 16 minutes
before it took off.
It is believed the aircraft will refuel at a Royal Air Force
base in England before taking al-Megrahi to Barlinnie
Prison in Glasgow where he is expected to arrive on
Friday morning.
The move came hours
after five appeal judges
dismissed al-Megrahi's
appeal against conviction
for the murder of 270
people who died when a
Pan Am airliner was blown
up over the Scottish town
of Lockerbie in 1988.
The Libyan was held in a
special compound at
Camp Zeist during his trial
and subsequent appeal
but, with that process now over, he must serve the
rest of a minimum 20-year sentence in Scotland.
Scottish authorities have not specified which prison
al-Megrahi is destined for but it is widely expected that
he will be held in a special unit at Barlinnie.
Security was notably tighter at the prison on Thursday
evening and a police helicopter buzzed in the skies
overhead.
In a statement, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said
al-Megrahi would not receive special treatment "except
where safety provisions require it".
Consular officials
The SPS did not say where he would be housed, to
what extent he would be kept apart from other
inmates, how many staff will supervise him and how
much it will cost to detain him.
It said Libyan consular officials will have "unfettered
access" to al-Megrahi and arrangements would be
made for "an independent country or organisation such
as the United Nations" to monitor his treatment.
Al-Megrahi's relatives would have the same access
rights as other inmates' families, he would be subject
to the same safety assessments as other prisoners
and he will go through the standard admission and
assessment procedures.
It is expected that al-Megrahi will be kept in high
security and apart from other inmates in the unit,
which has been described as a prison within a prison
and nicknamed Gaddafi's Cafe.
It is believed that he will
have three prison officers
with him at all times and
will be required to work
and take his recreation
within the unit.
Experts said that
detaining Britain's most
notorious mass murderer
would clearly pose
challenges for the
Scottish prison system,
especially given the
political and diplomatic nature of the case.
Scotland's Chief Inspector of Prisons, Clive
Fairweather, said: "There are many victims' families in
Scotland who will be looking to see how he is treated
but this is very much an international case and there
will be interest throughout the world."
Law Professor Jim Murdoch, of Glasgow University,
said: "I'm sure the Scottish Prison Service will do its
utmost to treat that individual as if he were any other
individual.
"But obviously he's not and these are very
extraordinary circumstances."
'Appalling conditions'
Solicitor Tony Kelly said it was "ironic" that a man
convicted of murder on a massive scale would be
treated differently than other inmates in Scottish jails.
He said: "I can't imagine that Mr Megrahi will be
housed in the conditions of many of the convicted
prisoners in Barlinnie.
"The inmates are housed in three huge Victorian halls
in pretty appalling conditions and I think it's rather
ironic that Mr Megrahi is going to housed simply a
matter of metres away."