William Barr, the Attorney General of U.S., stated that after 32 long years of a global search for the offenders, Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi has been charged with bombing the passenger plane, Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, using explosives that detonated midair near Lockerbie, Scotland; an act that killed 270, of which 190 were Americans.
In 2019, American federal authorities opened up the case with renewed zeal, following a review of lapsed cases of counterterrorism that may have fizzled out or weakened for unknown reasons. Mas’ud was interrogated by the Libyan authorities on the role he may have played in the aircraft bombing at Lockerbie. Post interrogation, they shared the report with prosecutors in the U.S.
The bombing has been termed as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in UK’s history and the second deadliest one for the US.
“Let there be no mistake: No amount of time or distance will stop the United States, and its partners in Scotland, from pursuing justice in this case,” Barr said.
Mas’ud is in custody at Libya. Barr revealed that he wished to get permission from Libya to transport him to America for justice and prosecution.
The investigation on the Lockerbie bombing had been a challenging one for the FBI. It is said that forensic experts were able to trace a small bit of evidence, which they connected with a cassette player that was supposed to have held the bomb. The government of Libya accepted responsibility for their role in the crime.
Source: NPR
