Family members of the convicted Lockerbie airliner bomber say the former Libyan intelligence officer has died in Tripoli after a long battle with cancer.

Relatives of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi say he died at his home on Sunday at the age of 60. He was the only man convicted in the attack on Pan Am flight 103, which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people, including 11 on the ground.

A Scottish court on neutral territory in the Netherlands found al-Megrahi guilty of involvement in the bombing in 2001. He served eight years of a life sentence in a Scottish prison before Scottish authorities released him in 2009 on compassionate grounds, citing his struggle with prostate cancer. Scottish doctors at the time said that al-Megrahi had only three months to live.

His release and the hero's welcome he received from the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on his return home triggered outrage from families of the victims of the bombing. The U.S. government also criticized the release.

Prosecutors said al-Megrahi conspired with others to carry out the bombing at the orders of the Gadhafi government. Al-Megrahi always denied any involvement in the attack.