The release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from prison on compassionate grounds was a decision by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. Megrahi was convicted on 31 January 2001 by a special Scottish Court in the Netherlands of the bomb attack on Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988 (the "Lockerbie bombing"). On 20 August 2009, having served 8½ years of a life sentence, his release was authorised by MacAskill. The decision attracted significant news coverage, engendering widespread celebration in Libya, a largely hostile reaction in the United States and a more equally divided reaction in Britain.