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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Jason Burke, Africa correspondent

US accused of illegal abduction of Lockerbie bomb suspect from Libya

The nose cone of Pan Am flight 103 near Lockerbie, after a bomb killed 270 people on board in 1988
The nose cone of Pan Am flight 103 near Lockerbie, after a bomb killed 270 people on board in 1988. Photograph: Roy Letkey/AFP FILES/AFP/Getty Images

The abduction of a former Libyan intelligence operative accused of preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and his transfer into US custody raises concerns about a renewed willingness in Washington to flout international law to hunt alleged terrorist fugitives.

The family of Mohammed Abouagela Masud, who appeared in a US courtroom last week, have described how the 71-year-old was “kidnapped” from his home in Tripoli’s Abu Salem neighbourhood around 1am on 17 November by armed gunmen sent by a notorious local militia commander. He was then held by another militia for two weeks before being handed over to US agents.

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