London - A Libyan man convicted of the 1988 bombing of an American airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland in which 270 people died will not be released early from jail on health grounds, appeal judges in Scotland ruled Friday.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, 56, had applied for the release on the grounds that he suffered from advanced prostate cancer.

He was sentenced to life at a special court in the Netherlands in 2001, with the judges stipulating that he must serve at least 27 years.

Al Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent, has always denied the charges against him.

He was sentenced for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, with 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground killed. (dpa)