Libyan accused in Lockerbie bombing now in American custody
Martin Cleaver/AP
FILE - A police officer walks by the nose of Pan Am flight 103 in a field near the town of Lockerbie, Scotland where it lay after a bomb aboard exploded, killing a total of 270 people, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 1988. Authorities in Scotland on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022 say the Libyan man suspected of making the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 is in U.S. custody. Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said in a statement that the families of those who died had been told the news. (AP Photo/Martin Cleaver, File)
By:
ERIC TUCKER and SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press
Posted at 11:32 AM, Dec 12, 2022
and last updated2022-12-12 11:32:58-05
The Justice Department says a Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 in an international act of terrorism has been taken into U.S. custody and will face federal charges in Washington.
The arrest of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi is a milestone in the decades-old investigation into the attack that killed 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground.
Scott Heppell/AP
FILE - Part of the main memorial stone to the victims of the Pan Am flight 103 bombing in the garden of remembrance at Dryfesdale Cemetery, near Lockerbie, Scotland, Saturday Dec. 20, 2008. U.S. and Scottish authorities said Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022 that the Libyan man suspected of making the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 is in U.S. custody. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
In December 2020, American authorities announced charges against Mas'ud, who was in custody in Libya at that time. Mas'ud is the third Libyan intelligence official charged in the U.S. in the case.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
FILE - Honor guards carry the colors of the United States as relatives and friends of the victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 gather around the memorial cairn at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014, during a memorial service to mark the 26th anniversary of the bombing of the Pan Am Flight 103 that crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland. U.S. and Scottish authorities said Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022 that the Libyan man suspected of making the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 is in U.S. custody. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
He'd be the first to appear in an American courtroom for prosecution.
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