UPDATE 1-UK deputy PM wants Lockerbie bomber jailed

> * Megrahi has survived 2 years despite cancer * U.S. politicians want him extradited from Tripoli (Adds comment from father of victim, Scottish council) LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Wednesday he would like to see convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi put back in jail after the overthow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Many U.S. politicians and victims' relatives are pressing for Megrahi's extradition to the United States following his release on compassionate grounds two years ago. In all, 189 of the 270 killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing were American citizens.

"politicians want him extradited from Tripoli (Adds comment from father of victim, Scottish council) LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Wednesday he would like to see convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi put back in jail after the overthow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi""My personal view is that I would like to see al Megrahi behind bars, because whatever you think he was convicted in a court of law for one of the most atrocious terrorist acts this country has ever seen," Clegg told Sky TV. Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 of playing a "significant part in planning and perpetrating" the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish border town of Lockerbie. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum jail term of 27 years but he returned to Libya in August 2009 after being freed from a Scottish jail on the grounds he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer. Scottish authorities said at the time of his release he was only expected to live for another three months. Megrahi recently passed the second anniversary of his release.

He appeared last month at a rally in support of Gaddafi, sitting in a wheelchair at a tribal meeting in Tripoli. TRANSATLANTIC TENSIONS The release strained traditionally strong ties between Britain and the United States, with some U.S. politicians asking whether it had been designed to help oil giant BP secure contracts in Libya. Prime Minister David Cameron, who took office in May 2010, has called the release a mistake. However, Scotland has responsibility for its own legal system following devolution in 1999.

"politicians and victims' relatives are pressing for Megrahi's extradition to the United States following his release on compassionate grounds two years ago"Scottish government sources said Megrahi had abided by the licence terms of his release -- submitting regular medical reports and reporting in through telephone conference calls. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, said it would be a disaster for Megrahi if he were sent to the United States and he should be allowed to stay with his family in the Libyan capital. "It would be much better if he is to be removed from his home in Tripoli, that he were taken to the International Criminal Court," said Swire, who described Megrahi's conviction as a "terrible parody of justice". Swire, a former doctor who has acted as a spokesman for the British victims of Lockerbie, said he believed the attack was more likely to have been instigated by Iran and carried out by a Syrian group. Megrahi had been held in Greenock prison in western Scotland.

Local authority officials said on Wednesday they were trying to get back in contact with him after the turmoil of recent days to ensure he continues to meet his licence terms. "Our contact with Mr Megrahi over the past two years has been up-to date and has given us no cause for concern," East Renfrewshire Council said in a statement. "The events over the weekend in Tripoli have put us into the position where we will need to contact Mr Megrahi earlier than we would have expected to," it added. (Reporting by Keith Weir and Stephen Addison; Editing by Matthew Jones) Stocks Markets Energy Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News