Families of the 270 people killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 faced another delay in their pursuit of justice when the terrorism trial of alleged bombmaker Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was postponed Monday. The trial was originally scheduled to begin Wednesday in Washington, D.C., marking the first prosecution on American soil related to the attack. A federal judge cited the discovery of new evidence as the reason for the postponement but did not disclose the nature of the evidence.
Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who had been held in imprisonment in Libya, is accused of constructing the device used in the attack and working with two others to carry it out. According to an FBI affidavit, a 2012 interview obtained by U.S. officials contained statements in which Al-Marimi reportedly admitted to building the bomb and indicated that Libyan intelligence ordered the operation and that former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi subsequently thanked those involved. The case had remained dormant until this significant development in 2017.
Family members expressed mixed reactions to the delay. Some acknowledged that additional impediments had characterized the case from its inception, while others expressed cautious optimism that newly surfaced information could illuminate previously unknown aspects of the attack. A 2000 trial held in the Netherlands had resulted in the conviction of one alleged accomplice and acquittal of another. Over the decades, family members have pursued various channels for remembrance and accountability, including advocacy organizations and memorial projects.
The Libyan government formally accepted responsibility for the attack in 2003 and subsequently agreed to compensation payments totaling nearly three billion dollars to victims’ families. However, some family members continue to believe additional parties bear responsibility and that the matter extends beyond the scope of criminal proceedings.
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