A Libyan man charged with making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 has entered a plea of not guilty in a Washington court.
US prosecutors allege 71-year-old Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi built and set the bomb which was placed in a tape recorder and loaded into a suitcase which exploded as the New York-bound plane flew over Lockerbie in December 1988.
Prosecutors allege Mas'ud, as he is commonly known, was working as an explosives expert for the Libyan intelligence service when he built, delivered and set the bomb.
The attack which killed 270 people — 259 on board the Boeing 747 and 11 on the ground — is considered the worst terrorist attack on America before 9/11.
Mas'ud faces two charges of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and destruction of a vehicle used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive resulting in death.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
In court, Mas'ud appeared frail as he participated in the brief hearing on Wednesday.
A lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
In 1991, two other Libyan intelligence operatives, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, were charged over the bombing.
At a Scottish trial before a court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing in 2001 and was jailed for life.
He was later released because he was suffering from cancer and he died at his home in Tripoli in 2012.
Mr Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Scottish prosecutors have maintained that Megrahi did not act alone.
ABC/Reuters
