Prosecutors have long accused Mas’ud of being the “third man” behind the December 1985 downing of an American passenger jet over Lockerbie.
The man suspected of constructing the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 has appeared in a court in the United States.
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir al Marimi arrived in person in the federal courts in Washington, D.C.
He entered the courtroom wearing a green jumpsuit and spoke simply to confirm his identity. He had no opportunity to enter a plea.
Approximately twenty persons whose families were killed in the blast were in the audience.
Among them were a widow and her daughter, as well as a man with his motherless father.
They were among the numerous families torn apart by the deadliest terrorist atrocity in British history.
Stephanie Bernstein, a relative, told that she has been pursuing justice for the past 34 years.
“My daughter was 7 years old when my husband was murdered… The United States government will care for its citizens in both life and death… appreciative of the Biden administration”
Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the attack, expressed his hope that Mas’ud will eventually tell the bereaved family more about what transpired on that day.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to tell us how it was done and help us uncover the facts about this horrifying, heinous thing.
The procedures lasted less than an hour and set the stage for a subsequent detention hearing on December 27.
According to federal attorneys assigned to Mas’ud, he had not yet been able to appoint his legal counsel. He has one week to comply, and he will remain in detention until then.
The investigation concludes that a bomb was placed in a suitcase.
Prosecutors have long accused Mas’ud of being the “third man” behind the December 1985 downing of an American passenger jet over Lockerbie.
A bomb detonated approximately a half-hour into the 747’s trip from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport at a height of 31,000 feet.
The 243 passengers and 16 staff members aboard the aircraft perished. On the ground, in the Dumfries and Galloway town of Lockerbie, 11 additional people were killed when debris landed on their homes.
An exhaustive and time-consuming inquiry searched 845 square kilometers of Scottish countryside for debris. It was determined that the bomb was concealed behind a cassette player wrapped in clothing and placed inside the luggage.
Two former members of the Libyan intelligence service were captured, extradited, and convicted in 2003 after the Libyan government claimed responsibility.
Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty. In 2012, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Investigators always suspected the third suspect
Megrahi, who twice failed to challenge his sentence, was released in 2009 on humanitarian grounds and died in Libya in 2012.
However, detectives always believed a third individual was involved in the operation.
In 2011, following the toppling of leader Muammar Gaddafi, Mas’ud was arrested in Libya along with other regime loyalists.
The next year, he allegedly told a Libyan law enforcement official that he was the bomb creator behind the Lockerbie attack.
This alleged confession from 2012 served as the basis for a 2020 US Department of Justice prosecution against him.
The specifics of Mas’ud’s transfer from Libyan custody to American custody remain unknown.
Scotland’s chief legal officer will meet with American officials.
The blast remains Britain’s deadliest terrorist strike in history. People from twenty-one counties perished.
The chief law officer of Scotland applauded the news that Mas’ud is in US custody.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC stated, “The steps taken by the US justice authorities are significant, and progress towards a legal breakthrough is welcomed by Scottish prosecutors and police.”
“The tragic events of December 1988 have united Scotland and the United States in grief and a resolve to see all those responsible for this atrocity brought to justice.”
She added, “The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has maintained a case team working on this investigation for more than two decades, bringing together a variety of prosecutorial expertise in counter-terrorism, major crime investigations, forensic analysis, international cooperation, and mutual legal assistance.”
Ms. Bain stated that officials in Scotland and the United States will continue to examine the case “with the express purpose of bringing al Megrahi’s accomplices to justice.”
She acknowledged that she would be meeting with American officials to discuss the subject the following week.
