"GREENOCK, Scotland (CNN) -- The man convicted of murdering 270 people by blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, two decades ago received a boisterous welcome when he landed in his native Libya on Thursday.
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi covers his face as he boards a plane.
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was freed from prison in Scotland, with Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill citing compassionate grounds for the release and saying al Megrahi was "going home to die."
A large crowd, waving flags and honking horns, greeted al Megrahi at the military airport in Tripoli.
The 57-year-old has three months to live, according to Scottish authorities.
"Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion available," MacAskill said. "Our beliefs dictate that justice be served but mercy be shown."
Al Megrahi issued a statement that his attorney Tony Kelly read to reporters. In it, al Megrahi said the families of the Lockerbie victims "have my sincere sympathy for their unimaginable loss."
"Many people ... I know are upset that my appeal has come to the end, but nothing more can be done about the circumstances of the Lockerbie bombing," al Megrahi said in the statement.
"I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out, until my diagnosis of cancer."
Al Megrahi continued to maintain his innocence, complaining that he had to spend years in prison for something he did not do.
"The remaining days of my life will have to be spent under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction," he said."
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi covers his face as he boards a plane.
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was freed from prison in Scotland, with Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill citing compassionate grounds for the release and saying al Megrahi was "going home to die."
A large crowd, waving flags and honking horns, greeted al Megrahi at the military airport in Tripoli.
The 57-year-old has three months to live, according to Scottish authorities.
"Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion available," MacAskill said. "Our beliefs dictate that justice be served but mercy be shown."
Al Megrahi issued a statement that his attorney Tony Kelly read to reporters. In it, al Megrahi said the families of the Lockerbie victims "have my sincere sympathy for their unimaginable loss."
"Many people ... I know are upset that my appeal has come to the end, but nothing more can be done about the circumstances of the Lockerbie bombing," al Megrahi said in the statement.
"I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out, until my diagnosis of cancer."
Al Megrahi continued to maintain his innocence, complaining that he had to spend years in prison for something he did not do.
"The remaining days of my life will have to be spent under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction," he said."
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