The Lockerbie bomber has asked to be freed from prison on compassionate grounds.
The Scottish government said it had received a request to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who is dying from cancer.
If it is granted he would be freed from prison without having to drop his appeal against his conviction for the 1988 bombing.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is considering the application.
Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is currently serving a life sentence in Greenock prison.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm an application for compassionate release has been by Mr al-Megrahi and forwarded by the Libyan government to the Scottish ministers.'
She added: 'Scottish ministers will not comment on the content of the application and will now seek advice on the application.'
In May the Libyan authorities applied for 57-year-old Megrahi to be moved to Libya under a prisoner-transfer treaty between Libya and the UK.
But no decision on the prisoner transfer can be made by Mr McAskill while Megrahi pursues a second appeal against his conviction for the 1988 bombing.
Megrahi is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years after being convicted in 2001 of bombing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 and murdering 270 people.
He lost an appeal in 2002 but was given a fresh chance to appeal against his conviction in 2007, when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred his case back to senior judges for a second time.
In October last year it was confirmed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that the disease had spread to other parts of his body and was at an advanced stage.
