The Justice Department announced on Sunday that a Libyan intelligence official who is suspected of creating the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 as part of a global act of terrorism has been taken into US custody and will face federal charges in Washington.
An important step has been taken in the long-running investigation into the attack that resulted in the deaths of 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground with the arrest of Abu Agela Masud Kheir Al-Marimi. Masud was charged in December 2020, while he was being held in a Libyan prison.He would be the first Libyan intelligence official to face charges in an American courtroom, despite being the third to be accused in the US in relation to the attack.
On December 21, 1988, a little more than an hour after takeoff from London, a Pan Am aircraft destined for New York detonated over Lockerbie. There were 21 people killed from various nationalities.35 Syracuse University students who were returning home for Christmas after a semester abroad were among the 190 Americans on board.
More than ten years before the September 11 attacks, the bombing made clear the danger posed by global terrorism. It led to widespread inquiries and harsh fines while igniting demands for accountability from the families of the victims.
On December 21, 2020, charges against Masud were brought, coinciding with the bombing’s 32nd anniversary and the last days of then-Attorney General William Barr’s term. Barr had previously brought charges against two other Libyan intelligence officials during his first term as attorney general in the early 1990s.
As part of a special deal, the Libyan government eventually gave Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah over to be tried by a panel of Scottish judges sitting in the Netherlands. At first, the Libyan government was reluctant to do this.
Masud is charged with two crimes related to the explosion, and the Justice Department wants him to go to a federal court in Washington soon.
US officials did not explain how Masud ended up in their custody, but local Libyan media reported in late November that Masud had been abducted on November 16 from his home in Tripoli, the country’s capital, by armed men. According to a statement from a family member that was used in the news story, Tripoli officials said nothing about the kidnapping.
When asked whether extradition was a possibility, Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister for the nation’s Tripoli-based government, said in an interview with the BBC that “we, as a government, are quite open in terms of participation in this matter.”
Libya has been torn apart by civil war since 2011, with rival eastern and western governments, both backed by foreign donors, and a large number of armed militias on the ground.Kidnappings and their participation in Libya’s lucrative human trafficking trade have helped militia groups accumulate significant riches and power.
A copy of an interview that Masud, a longtime explosives expert for the Libyan intelligence service, had given to Libyan law enforcement in 2012 after being detained following the fall of the country’s government under Col. Muammar Qaddafi, marked a turning point in the investigation for US officials in 2017.
According to US officials, Masud acknowledged creating the device for the Pan Am attack and collaborating with two other conspirators to carry it out in that interview. According to an FBI affidavit filed in the case, he also said that Qaddafi thanked him and the other members of the team after the strike and that Libyan intelligence told them to do it.
In that document, it was said that Masud had admitted to Libyan authorities that he had traveled to Malta to meet al-Megrahi and Fhimah. According to the paper, he had previously been told to adjust the timer so that the explosive would detonate exactly 11 hours later when he delivered Fhimah a medium-sized Samsonite suitcase containing a bomb. The FBI claimed that he then flew to Tripoli.
While Fhimah was cleared of all charges, Al-Megrahi was found guilty in the Netherlands. Al-Megrahi was handed a life sentence, but in 2009, after learning that he had prostate cancer, Scottish authorities decided to free him on humanitarian grounds. Later, while still claiming his innocence, he passed away in Tripoli.
Barr said that when Masud is charged in 2020, the US and Scotland will use “all possible and appropriate measures” to bring him to trial.
Barr remarked at the time, “At long last, this man who killed Americans and countless others will be subject to justice for his crimes.”
In a statement released on Sunday, Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service also revealed the arrest: “The suspect is held in US custody, according to information provided to the families of those slain in the Lockerbie attack.”
The statement continued, “Scottish prosecutors and police will continue to pursue this inquiry, working with the UK government and US partners, with the sole goal of bringing those who acted in concert with al-Megrahi to justice.”
