Mohamed Abuahela Massoud appeared briefly in a Washington court on Monday accused of setting the timer for the bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in the deadliest terror attack on British soil. The US Department of Justice announced it had custody of Masud over the weekend, but did not provide details on how he arrived in the US. Libyan officials familiar with the case said Masud was arrested at his home in Tripoli’s Abu Salim neighborhood on Nov. 17 by armed loyalists to Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, a notorious local militia commander known as “Gheniwa,” and then handed over to a second militia. team that held him for two weeks before his eventual transfer to US government agents. Analysts have expressed concern that the US choosing such notorious local partners in a covert operation to bring Masud to the US against his will could undermine efforts to promote the rule of law in Libya. The officials said Trump administration officials had been in discussions with local authorities about bringing Massoud to the U.S. to stand trial beginning in 2019, and that those “conversations” continued under President Joe Biden. Until six months ago, Massoud was serving a 10-year sentence for crimes committed as an intelligence agent under Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, which was toppled in 2011. While in prison, Masud, who is about 75 years old and seriously ill, could have been flown to the US relatively easily by the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), but he was released earlier this year having served his tenure. “Basically he was a free man. He was alone at home. There was no warrant for him or anything like that. The Americans knew of course,” a Libyan official said. The lack of legal justification for Massoud’s detention initially appeared to hamper US efforts, until powerful figures within the GNU, believed to be the powerful nephew of Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, offered to arrest Masoud and deliver. in the US government anyway. “The Libyan leaders knew that the Americans were interested, regardless of whether the person was in custody or not. The legal process on the Libyan side was not a big concern,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. Only a small number of senior officials in Washington, mainly in the Justice Department and the State Department, were aware of the fate planned for Masud, although the CIA and the White House are believed to have been informed. After the kidnapping, Masud was transferred to a heavily armed paramilitary unit called the Joint Force in the port city of Misrata. The force was set up a year ago by Dbeibeh to act as a personal Praetorian guard and is described by experts as “very well armed, small, very ugly and able to get things done”. “It looks like it was … basically stored while they were waiting for the US to be ready and accept the gift,” Harchaoui said. Around Dec. 1, American officials rounded up Masud and flew their captive to Malta against his will, the officials said. Masud’s nephew, Abdulmenam Marimi, told Reuters on Monday that the family only learned he had moved to the US from the media. Start your day with the top stories from the US, plus the day’s must-reads from across the Guardian Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Libya is divided between two administrations and is the site of a proxy struggle for influence between countries such as Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Western nations. GNU is based in Tripoli. Dbeibeh’s term ended last December and he has been under pressure to justify staying in power from the US and other Western allies ever since. “It is very likely that Masud was captured at the behest of the current Tripoli-based prime minister, who needs to strengthen his personal position with the US. The resentment of the international community towards him was building. He is supposed to deliver the country to elections and root out corruption networks, but there is no sign of genuine commitment on his part,” said Alia Brahimi, North Africa specialist at the Atlantic Council. Earlier this year, Dbeibeh appointed al-Kikli, the notorious militia commander, to head a force tasked with arresting people in “national security” cases. Al-Kikli, who has been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses, controls the poor, crowded neighborhood of Abu Salim, where Massoud lived. Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh appointed notorious warlord Abdel Ghani al-Kikli to arrest people like Masud in “national security” cases. Photo: Islam Alatrash/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock Amnesty International said earlier this year that militias under al-Kikli’s command terrorized people “through enforced disappearances, torture, unlawful killings and other crimes under international law”. Al-Kikli denied Amnesty’s claims, saying he was “very willing to implement Libyan law first, which takes into account standards of justice and human rights.” Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, told reporters at Monday’s White House press conference: “Today is a good day because Massoud will face justice for his alleged role in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. I will say that this was done in a legal manner according to established procedures.” In a statement, Michael Glasheen, the deputy assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington office, said: “The lawful arrest and arraignment of the alleged bomb maker … is the product of hard work and cooperation around the world.” Tim Eaton, an expert at Chatham House in London, said it was possible that Washington had rejected the concerned diplomats on the spot. “The US has this idea that there is no moratorium on prosecuting those responsible for crimes against America … but this episode … is completely contrary to what the US wants in Libya. The stadium is pro-democracy, accountability and transparency. You would be hard pressed to say that this was an accountable and transparent process,” Eaton said. Hartsawi said many Libyans will be disappointed by the US’s choice of local partners. “What will you think if you live in Abu Salim and fear this militia, and then you find out that the most powerful state in the world cooperates with it, accepts its illegal operation and gives it legitimacy? How about the USA?’ asked. A Pan Am flight from Heathrow to John F Kennedy Airport in New York exploded at 31,000 feet over Scotland on December 21, 1988. Two hundred and fifty-nine people on board were killed, while fiery debris from the exploding aircraft killed 11 others on the ground in Lockerbie. According to US legal documents, Masud was a key figure in the plot, along with Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah. Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison for mass murder by three Scottish judges at a special court in the Netherlands in 2001. Fhimah was later acquitted at trial. Investigators say Massoud met the other two in Malta, where he was instructed to fly by a senior Libyan intelligence official with a suitcase ready. He was asked to set the timer by the other two men and the suitcase traveled via feeder flights to the hold of the Boeing 747. At the time, Gaddafi was at odds with the West, but under his leadership Libya later renounced terrorism and claimed responsibility for the 2003 airstrike in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. After the fall of Gaddafi, Masud, a longtime explosives expert for the country’s intelligence services, was taken into custody by Libyan law enforcement. In 2017, US officials obtained a transcript of an interview with Masud conducted by Libyan authorities shortly after his capture. In that interview, US officials said, Masud admitted to building the bomb used in the Pan Am attack and working with the two men charged earlier to plant it on the plane. He said the operation was ordered by Libyan intelligence and that Gaddafi thanked him and others after the attack, according to an FBI affidavit. In late 2020, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Masud. With Masud in custody in Libya, however, his prosecution remained largely theoretical.
