London, Aug 13 (DPA) Relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, Thursday gave a mixed response to reports that the Libyan man convicted of the attack could soon be freed from a British prison.

British media reported late Wednesday that Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who is serving a life sentence in Greenock prison near Glasgow, will be freed next week. He is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

The decision to free al-Megrahi rests with Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who last week visited the Libyan in a Glasgow jail and also met with victims' families.

But the Scottish government denied reports that a decision has been made to release al-Megrahi. A spokesman for Alex Salmond, the head of the regional government in Scotland, described the reports as 'complete speculation'.

'No decision has been taken, either on the application for compassionate release or the application under the prisoner transfer agreement and so it is entirely speculation,' he said.

British doctor Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the bombing, said he welcomed possible freedom for al-Megrahi. He did not believe that the verdict passed against him was 'right', Swire told the BBC.

'I am someone who does not believe he is guilty. The sooner he is back with his family the better.