LONDON: Libya has applied to the Scottish government for a former Libyan agent convicted and jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be sent back to his homeland.

Megrahi was sentenced to life in jail for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie as it flew from London to New York on Dec 18, 1988, killing all 259 people on board, including 189 Americans, and 11 people on the ground.

"An application has been received for a prisoner transfer on behalf of Mr (Abdel Basset al-) Megrahi from the Libyan authorities," a spokeswoman for the Scottish government said.