Since I’ve followed this story for quite a while now, I thought I’d let you know it’s reported that convicted-but-released Lockerbie bomber al Megrahi is in a coma and near death.

Truth? Who knows? One thing we can safely say is that he’s either in a coma and near death or he isn’t. And that we’ve heard it all before: there was this report back in December of 2010:

“Freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al- Megrahi ‘expected to die in days’
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al- Megrahi is said to be close to death and on a life-support machine.”

He has not been able to speak for several weeks and his family expects him to die within days. He has also slipped in and out of a coma, sources said.

Sounds a great deal like the reports that have hit the news today. The only difference seems to be that CNN’s Nic Robertson was actually ushered into the sickroom this time, where he beheld a man who looked very ill indeed. But let’s read what Nic has to say:

Where the chair might have been, in the corner facing the door, was a metal hospital bed — the type with wheels that can raise and lower a patient’s back. Beneath the blankets was al-Megrahi, eyes shut, inert.

At first I didn’t know what to do. My carefully thought-through questions were useless. I was stunned. Was I being shown him so I would see with my eyes how sick he was? Should I try to talk to him?

I took in all I was seeing. The oxygen mask on his face, the old, sick lady — his mother, I was told — at his bedside, the drip hanging a foot from his head. His skin seemed paper-thin, his face sallow and sunken.

Was this all a drama for me? Was this real, or had they invited me after my 15-minute wait outside after the “stage” was set?

Only al Megrahi’s family knows for sure.

[NOTE: Oh, and if this thread is like a lot of previous ones, we’ll see the obligatory “al Megahi is an innocent man” drive-bys in the comments section.]