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, 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.”

“This is absolutely ludicrous and insane,” said Bert Ammermann, whose brother was killed on the PanAm flight.

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.

Al Megrahi said he never will return to Scotland, and he offered his gratitude and best wishes to the Scottish people.

“To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this, they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered,” he said.

“To those who bear me ill will, the only thing I can say is that I do not return that to you.”

According to Kelly, his client “was in good spirits” this morning and was looking forward to seeing his mother, wife and children in Libya.

Kelly said, “His disease is not only terminal but is in its final stages.”

MacAskill said he agreed with the 2001 conviction of al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing — the worst terrorist atrocity ever committed on U.K. soil. He also said he supported a severe sentence. But he said al Megrahi’s lack of compassion for his 270 victims should not be a reason for Scotland to deny compassion to him.

Al Megrahi left prison Thursday, shortly after MacAskill’s announcement. He later boarded a plane to make his trip home.

Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie four days before Christmas in 1988, killing all 259 of those aboard the plane and 11 Scots on the ground.

Of those on board, 189 were Americans. The U.S. government responded immediately to word of al Megrahi’s release, saying it “deeply regrets” the decision.

“As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland,” the White House said in a statement.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a similarly worded statement.

“Today, we remember those whose lives were lost on December 21, 1988, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live each day with the loss of their loved ones due to this heinous crime,” Clinton said.

(Source: CNN)