The White House said Friday that the images of Libyans' welcome to a Lockerbie bomber home were "outrageous and disgusting" to the families of victims in the 1988 terrorist attack.

"The images that we saw in Libya yesterday were outrageous and disgusting," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters, referring to the scene of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, being welcomed home by hundreds of Libyans as a hero late Thursday.

The Scottish authority on Thursday ordered the early release of Megrahi, who was jailed for life for the bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people, among them were 189 Americans.

"We communicated with the Libyan government, we continue to watch what they do in the days going forward about this individual, and understand that the video that you saw yesterday was tremendously offensive to the survivors that lost a loved one in 1988," said the spokesman.

"We continue to express our condolences to the families that lost a loved one as a result of this terrorist murder," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2009)