The health of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, who suffered terminal prostate cancer, has deteriorated rapidly, according to news reaching Tunis on Sunday.

The Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi meets with Pan-African parliamentary delegates (not in the picture) in Tripoli International Hospital in Tripoli, capital of Libya, on Sept. 9, 2009.[Hamza Turkia/Xinhua]

The 57-year-old Al-Megrahi's illness was worrying and his body temperature reached 39.5 Celsius degrees, his brother was quoted as saying. Doctors have also confirmed Al-Megrahi's condition.

Al-Megrahi was treated with chemotherapy at the Tripoli Medical Center in the capital of Libya. His health has deteriorated in the past days and he can not even speak at present.

Al-Megrahi had been jailed on charges of murdering 270 people, including 189 Americans when a Pan Am plane blew up over Lockerbie, southern Scotland, in December 1988.

The bomber, who had terminal cancer, was formally released on Aug. 20. He was allowed to return home after serving eight years of a 27-year minimum sentence.

The Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi meets with Pan-African parliamentary delegates (not in the picture) in Tripoli International Hospital in Tripoli, capital of Libya, on September 9, 2009. [Hamza Turkia/Xinhua]

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2009)