LONDON – The former Libyan intelligence agent convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland has won an important victory in his effort to have his conviction overturned.

A Scottish court ruled Wednesday that Abdel Basset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi can make a wide-ranging appeal against his conviction. Prosecutors wanted any appeal to have a narrower focus.

Al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing by a special Scottish court at a trial held in the Netherlands in 2001 and sentenced to serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.

He lost a first appeal in 2002 but last year the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission gave him a second chance.

Al-Megrahi says he is innocent of the 1988 bombing that killed 259 people.