Officials: Lockerbie bomb suspect is in US custody - The Associated Press - en Español

LONDON (AP) — U.S. and Scottish authorities said Sunday that the Libyan antheral suspected of making the weaponry that destroyed a rider level implicit Lockerbie, Scotland, successful 1988 is successful U.S. custody.

Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said successful a connection that “the families of those killed successful the Lockerbie bombing person been told that the fishy Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi is successful U.S. custody.”

The U.S. Justice Department confirmed the information, adding that “he is expected to marque his archetypal quality successful the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.” It gave nary accusation connected however Mas’ud came to beryllium successful U.S. custody.

Pan Am formation 103, traveling from London to New York, exploded implicit Lockerbie connected Dec. 21, 1988, sidesplitting each 259 radical aboard the level and different 11 connected the ground. It remains the deadliest panic onslaught connected British soil.

The U.S. Justice Department announced caller charges against Mas’ud successful December 2020, connected the 32nd day of the bombing.

“At agelong last, this antheral liable for sidesplitting Americans and galore others volition beryllium taxable to justness for his crimes,” William Barr, the lawyer wide astatine the time, said astatine a quality conference.

In 2001, erstwhile Libyan quality serviceman Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of bombing the flight. He is to day the lone idiosyncratic convicted implicit the attack. He mislaid 1 entreaty and abandoned different earlier being freed successful 2009 connected compassionate grounds due to the fact that helium was terminally sick with cancer.

He died successful Libya successful 2012, inactive protesting his innocence.

A breakthrough successful the probe came erstwhile U.S. officials successful 2017 received a transcript of an interrogation that Mas’ud, a longtime explosives adept for Libya’s quality service, had fixed to Libyan instrumentality enforcement successful 2012 aft being taken into custody pursuing the illness of the authorities of the country’s leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

In that interview, U.S. officials said, Mas’ud admitted gathering the weaponry successful the Pan Am onslaught and moving with 2 different conspirators to transportation it out. He besides said the cognition was ordered by Libyan quality and that Gadhafi thanked him and different members of the squad aft the attack, according to an FBI affidavit filed successful the case.

While Mas’ud is present the 3rd Libyan quality authoritative charged successful the U.S. successful transportation with the Lockerbie bombing, helium would beryllium the archetypal to basal proceedings successful an American courtroom.

The Crown Office successful its connection added that “Scottish prosecutors and police, moving with U.K. authorities and U.S. colleagues, volition proceed to prosecute this investigation, with the sole purpose of bringing those who acted on with al-Megrahi to justice.”