Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi is to challenge a court ruling that he must serve at least 27 years for his role in the jet outrage.
Permission for a late appeal by Megrahi against the "punishment part" of his life sentence has been granted by the High Court in Scotland, said the Crown Office, the body responsible for prosecutions in Scotland. The Crown has already appealed against the 27-year ruling, arguing that it is too lenient.
The Crown appeal was due to be heard in Glasgow on June 28 but a procedural hearing will now be held at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday to set dates for both appeals.
Megrahi, 52, is serving a life sentence at Glasgow's Barlinnie prison after his conviction in 2001 for the murder of the 270 people who died when a New York-bound Pan Am jumbo jet was blown up in the winter skies over Lockerbie in 1988.
When Megrahi's life term was imposed by a Scottish court sitting at Camp Zeist in the the Netherlands, he was ordered to serve a minimum term of 20 years.
But the later incorporation into Scottish law of the European Convention on Human Rights required that all prisoners serving life sentences be brought before the High Court for judges to determine the "punishment part" of their sentence - the period they must serve before becoming eligible to be considered for release by the parole board.
This replaced the previous procedure under which courts could set minimum periods but government ministers had the ultimate say on releases.
In November last year Megrahi attended a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow where the three judges who conducted his original trial set the punishment part of his sentence at 27 years.
They said it could have been 30 years but they took into account his age and the fact that he was serving his sentence in a foreign country.
Earlier this month the Crown said it planned to appeal, arguing that 27 years was too lenient in Megrahi's case and also challenging the view that 30 years was the maximum that could be imposed on an individual. Announcing Megrahi's appeal plans, the Crown Office said he was lodging an application that any "punishment" part that might be set if the Crown appeal were to succeed would be a breach of his rights under the European Convention.
PA