US charges Libyan ‘bomb maker’ over 1988 Lockerbie plane attack
- Abu Agila Mohammad Masud allegedly helped build the device that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland exactly 32 years ago, killing 259 people on board
- Masud is in Libyan custody, but US Attorney General William Barr is ‘optimistic’ that he will be turned over to the United States
The US Justice Department announced charges on Monday against a Libyan former intelligence agent who allegedly built the bomb that exploded aboard Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland exactly 32 years ago.
Attorney General Bill Barr said that “Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi” helped build the device that blew up the aircraft – killing 259 people including 190 Americans aboard the US-bound flight, and 11 people on the ground.
The man, more widely known as Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, is currently being held by the Libyan government, Barr told a press conference, voicing confidence he would be handed over to the United States for trial.
“At long last, this man responsible for killing Americans and many others, will be subject to justice for his crimes,” Barr told said in a press conference.
Barr said Scotland supported Masud being put on trial in the United States while reserving its own decision on whether to try him on Scottish soil as well.