(BBC) The Lockerbie bomber has boarded a plane bound for Libya after being freed from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988.

The decision to release Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was made by the Scottish Government.

The White House said it "deeply regretted" the decision and some of the US victims' families reacted angrily.

A police convoy left Greenock Prison, where Megrahi was serving his sentence, more than an hour after the announcement of his release was made.

He was taken to Glasgow Airport to board the flight, to Tripoli.

The government said it had consulted widely before Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made his decision on applications for Megrahi's compassionate release or his transfer to a Libyan jail.

He told a media conference on Thursday that he had rejected the application for a prisoner transfer.

However, after taking medical advice it was expected that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of the time Megrahi had left to live.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announces the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

He ruled out the option of the Libyan being allowed to live in Scotland on security grounds.

And he stressed that he accepted the conviction and sentence which had been handed to Megrahi.

However, Mr Macaskill said Scots defined themselves by their humanity.

"Mr al-Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them.

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My take:

I hope somebody put a bomb in his suitcase.