David Cameron has dismissed calls for a fresh inquiry into the conviction of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi in the wake of his death.
The Prime Minister also reiterated his stance that the Libyan terrorist should never have been released from jail on compassionate grounds nearly three years ago.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town which claimed 270 lives.
He was later diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and controversially released from prison in August 2009 with an estimated three months to live.
But Megrahi, who always proclaimed his innocence, proved medical experts wrong and finally lost his cancer battle in Tripoli yesterday at the age of 60, his son said.
The Libyan's death sparked renewed calls from campaigners for an independent inquiry into his conviction, with many raising doubts about his guilt and questioning if he acted alone in carrying out the atrocity.
His biographer John Ashton said in a statement he believed al-Megrahi was innocent. "Everyone who knew him well believed him to be innocent. In my experience he was a normal man who dealt with his appalling circumstances with remarkable patience and good grace."
The Scottish government said the case remained a live criminal investigation.
Robert Forrester, from the Justice for Megrahi group, said: "The Crown and successive governments have, for years, acted to obstruct any attempts to investigate how the conviction of Mr al-Megrahi came about.
"Some in the legal and political establishments may well be breathing a sigh of relief now that Mr al-Megrahi has died. This would be a mistake.
"Many unfortunates who fell foul of outrageous miscarriages of justice in the past have had their names cleared posthumously."
The group, which is seeking to have Megrahi's conviction quashed, is supported by Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, as well as Nobel Peace Prize Winner Desmond Tutu.
But Cameron moved quickly to brand a new inquiry as unnecessary.
"I've always been clear he should never have been released from prison," he said.
"I'm very clear that the court case was properly done and properly dealt with."
The Prime Minister said thoughts should be with the people who died in the "appalling terrorist act" and the the suffering their families have endured.
Al Megrahi
Labour leader Ed Miliband said he believed Mr Cameron's response to calls for a fresh inquiry into the conviction of Megrahi was "right".
"I am obviously very sympathetic to the families who have gone through this terrible grief and who don't feel that they have got proper answers," he told ITV Daybreak.
"I think the Prime Minister is right though, that unless there is new evidence that comes forward - we had a whole trial, it was a long and painstaking trial which took place, it was done in a proper court of law - I think if there is new evidence, of course I am sure the Prime Minister himself would say 'Let's look at that' but the opportunity we have got, I think, is we have got a new Libyan government in place.
"Colonel Gaddafi is not there any more. Let's really intensify our contact with them and see whether they can help us find some of the truth about what has happened."
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Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond insisted the Lockerbie case remained a live criminal investigation and that authorities would rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry.
"Mr Megrahi's death ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book," he said, adding that the Crown's position has always been that Mr Megrahi acted with others.
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103, travelling from London to New York four days before Christmas, killed all 259 people on board.
Eleven residents of the Dumfries and Galloway town also died after the plane crashed down on their homes in Britain's biggest terrorist atrocity.
After protracted international pressure, Megrahi was put on trial in the Netherlands.
He was found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars but was the only man ever brought to justice over the terrorist attack.
The decision, by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, to release him from Greenock prison and allow him to return home to die in Libya drew international condemnation.
Scottish ministers insisted the move was made in good faith, on compassionate grounds alone and followed the due process of Scots law.
But US president Barack Obama and his secretary of state Hillary Clinton branded it "absolutely wrong".
News of the Libyan's death has divided opinion.
The mother of one passenger said she hoped the convicted terrorist suffered a "painful, horrible" death, while a spokesman for some of Megrahi's British victims said his death was "deeply regretted".
Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, 20, was on the flight bound for John F Kennedy airport, said she believed Megrahi should have received the death penalty and felt no pity for him.
Speaking from her home in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, Mrs Cohen, 74, said: "He died with his family around him. My daughter died a horrible death when she was 20 years old with her full life ahead of her. You call that justice?"
She added: "We cannot let Megrahi's death stand in the way of the Scottish and American government finding out who else was involved in the bombings and the specifics of how it was done"
David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for some of the British families who lost loved ones, described Megrahi as the "271st victim of Lockerbie" adding that his death is to "be deeply regretted".
Swire described the death as a "very sad event".
"It is a tragedy that we have failed to overturn the verdict while he was alive. But we must clear his name posthumously for the sake of truth and for the future peace of his family. If we do nothing then a great evil will have triumphed," he wrote in a Times editorial on Monday.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the public appearance confirmed a "great mistake" was made in releasing him from jail.
Former Liberal Democrat leader and Scottish QC Sir Menzies Campbell said: "The decision to release Mr Megrahi was ill-judged and undermined confidence in the Scottish legal system.
"Answers to many of the outstanding questions have died with Mr Megrahi."
Megrahi's funeral is expected to take place at Tripoli's main cemetery later today, according to a Libyan news agency.