The father of a Lockerbie bombing victim has urged Sir Keir Starmer to publish everything the UK knows about the tragedy.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on the plane after it exploded over the Scottish town, claimed it was “fishy” so much information had not been released about the disaster.
It comes exactly 36 years since the attack which claimed the lives of 270 people four days before Christmas on 21 December 1988.
“Here we are, 36 years down the road, and we know a lot of material has been kept out of public view,” Dr Swire told BBC News.
“Why isn’t it in the public interest to release it after 36 years? I think that’s something a lot of people would think is pretty fishy.”
In 2001, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the murders of 270 people by the introduction of an explosive device onto a civilian aircraft.
However, prosecutors have always maintained that Megrahi acted with others in carrying out the attack.
Libyan national Abu Agila Masud, who is alleged to have helped make the bomb, is due to go on trial in the US in May 2025 facing three charges, which he denies.
Here, The Independent has put together a timeline of the tragedy, its aftermath and what is known about the atrocity.
21 December 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, 38 minutes after take-off from London. The 259 people on board the Boeing 747 are killed, along with 11 people on the ground.
13 November 1991: US and British investigators indict Libyans Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah on 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and violating Britain’s 1982 Aviation Security Act.
The men were accused of being Libyan intelligence agents.
15 April 1992: The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on air travel and arms sales over Libya’s refusal to hand the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court.
August 1998: Britain and the United States propose trying the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
5 April 1999: The suspects are taken into Dutch custody after flying from Tripoli to an airbase near The Hague and are formally charged with the bombing. UN sanctions against Libya are suspended as agreed.
3 May 2000: The trial of Megrahi, 48, and Mr Fhimah, 44, opens at Camp Zeist, a specially convened Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. Both of the accused deny murder, external.
31 January 2001: Megrahi is found guilty of murder after the historic trial under Scottish law in the Netherlands. Megrahi’s co-accused, Mr Fhimah, is found not guilty and told he is free to return home.
14 August 2003: Lawyers acting for families of the Lockerbie bombing victims say they have reached agreement with Libya on the payment of compensation, external.
The deal to set up a $2.7bn (£1.7bn) fund was struck with Libyan officials after negotiations in London.
31 October 2008: Dr Swire reiterates his call for Megrahi to be released after the killer was diagnosed with cancer.
20 August 2009: The Scottish government releases Megrahi on compassionate grounds. He returns home to Libya on board a jet belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
20 May 2012: Megrahi dies at his home in Tripoli, aged 60.
22 December 2020: On the 32nd anniversary of the atrocity, the US announces it has filed charges against a Libyan suspected of making the bomb.
11 December 2022: It emerges that Abu Agila Mohammad Masud is in United States custody.
9 December 2024: Part of the Pan Am Flight 103 is transported to the US in preparation for the trial of Masud.
