Remains of the Pan Am jet blown up over Lockerbie in 1988
The man accused of being the bombmaker in the Lockerbie terrorist attack is now in US custody, authorities in Scotland and America have said.
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was said to be the “third conspirator” behind the downing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was found guilty of mass murder in 2001.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi (‘Mas’ud’ or ‘Masoud’) is in US custody.
“Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK Government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with Al Megrahi to justice.”
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103, travelling from London to New York on December 21 1988, killed 270 people in Britain’s largest terrorist attack.
In 2020, Mas’ud was charged by the US Attorney General William Barr with being the third person involved in the terrorist attack.
At the time, he was said to be in Libyan custody and Mr Barr said US authorities would work “arm in arm” with their Scottish counterparts.
Mr Barr said: “Let there be no mistake, no amount of time or distance will stop the US and our Scottish partners from pursuing justice in this case.”
A Justice Department official confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that the United States has taken custody of the alleged Pan Am flight 103 bombmaker. Mas’ud is expected to make his initial court appearance in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
Further details about the timing of the court hearing will be forthcoming, the spokesperson added.
Megrahi was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds while terminally ill with cancer, and died in Libya in 2012.
In January 2021, his family lost an appeal against his conviction at the High Court in Edinburgh.
