A Libyan man accused of building the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie in December 1988 is now in US custody, authorities in the United States and Scotland said Sunday.
The US has charged Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi for his alleged involvement in the bombing two years ago, a spokesman for the UK Crown and Prosecution Service told CNN.
The attack killed 270 people as the bomb exploded over the Scottish city as it flew from London to New York.
The US Department of Justice issued a statement Sunday morning confirming that the US had “arrested the alleged bomber of Pan Am Flight 103” Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, saying he was expected to make his “initial appearance in the American region. Court for the District of Columbia,” according to a spokesman.
The statement did not set a specific date for his court appearance, but said more details would be forthcoming.
The British official told CNN that “the families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been informed that the suspect ‘Masood’ or ‘Masoud’ is in custody in the US.” “Prosecutors and Police Scotland, working with the UK Government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing to justice those who acted in concert with Al Megrahi.”
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was accused along with Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah of planting explosives in a portable cassette and a radio that were inside a suitcase on the plane. Megrahi was sentenced in 2001 to 27 years in prison, but was released after being diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2012. Fhimah was acquitted.
The Lockerbie bombing remains the UK’s deadliest terrorist attack. It killed 259 people on board, along with 11 on the ground.
