London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Lockerbie bombing suspect to appear in U.S. court

Lockerbie bombing suspect to appear in U.S. court

A Libyan intelligence operative suspected of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people, appeared in a federal court in Washington on Monday, ahead of being formally charged.

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi appeared in a U.S. courtroom nearly 34 years after a bomb on board the Boeing 747, which was flying from London to New York City, killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

Clad in a green jumpsuit, the 71-year-old Mas'ud appeared to walk with a limp and complained of flu symptoms as he clutched a tissue.

"I cannot talk before I see my attorney," Mas'ud told U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather, speaking through an interpreter.

Mas'ud, who the U.S. Justice Department said is of Tunisia and Libya, allegedly confessed his crimes to a Libyan law enforcement official back in September 2012. He appeared in court just days after being captured in Libya.

Mas'ud is one of three people whom U.S. and British law enforcement officials have alleged were involved with the bombing.

The Justice Department is seeking to detain him pending trial, and a detention hearing will be held later this month after Mas'ud decides who will represent him in the case.

"Countless families have never fully recovered from his actions," prosecutor Erik Kenerson told the court.

Kenerson added that the government will not be seeking the death penalty because it was not a legally available penalty at the time the crimes were committed, so the maximum sentence available will be life in prison.

In 1991, two other Libyan intelligence operatives, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, were charged in the bombing.

At a Scottish trial before a court at Camp Zeist in The Netherlands, Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing in 2001 and was jailed for life. He was later released because he was suffering from cancer and died at his home in Tripoli in 2012.

Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Scottish prosecutors have maintained that Megrahi did not act alone.


NOVEMBER CAPTURE


Mas'ud's nephew, Abdulmenam Marimi, said armed men came to his family's home in Tripoli in mid-November and took the accused bomb maker away.

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, also known as Mohammed Abouajela Masud, accused of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988, is shown listening in this courtroom sketch drawn during an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S. December 12, 2022.


Mas'ud had been staying there since he was released from detention last year. He had been jailed

following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Libya's autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi for having a role in the former government.

The family only learned he had been moved to the United States when they saw it reported on the news, Marimi said.

Libya's Government of National Unity, the internationally recognized administration in Tripoli, had no comment on Mas'ud's transfer to the United States.

However, its political rivals have accused it of illegally handing him over to Washington to curry its support in Libya's ongoing standoff over control of government.

The family has also lodged a formal complaint with Libya's attorney general over Mas'ud's transfer to the United States, Marimi said.

At the time of the bombing, U.S. investigators uncovered evidence that one of the possible suspects went by the name of "Abu Agela Masud" but were unable to locate him, according to a sworn statement by an FBI agent in support of the government's criminal complaint.

Mas'ud was not formally charged by the United States until 2020, when it uncovered fresh evidence revealing he had apparently confessed his crimes to a Libyan law enforcement official.

Stephanie Bernstein, whose husband, Mike Bernstein, died in the bombing, is vice president of a family group, Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, that has been pushing for Mas'ud's apprehension.

"He's an old man who murdered a tremendous number of people. And it's what should have happened a long time ago," she said.

"He is the first person responsible for the death of my husband to actually be tried on U.S. soil," she added.

Mike Bernstein was a Justice Department official in the Office of Special Investigations that tracked Nazi-era criminals.

In a 2020 criminal complaint, Mas'ud was charged with destruction of aircraft resulting in death and destruction of a vehicle used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive resulting in death. He was formally indicted on those charges in November 2022.

During the 2012 interview with the Libyan law enforcement official, Mas'ud "admitted to building the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 and to working with Megrahi and Fhimah to execute the plot," according to an FBI agent's sworn statement in support of the government's criminal complaint.

Mas'ud also told the interviewer he was involved in other similar plots, and said the bombing was ordered by Libyan intelligence leadership, according to the complaint.

He also claimed that Gaddafi, who was killed by rebels in October 2011, "thanked him and other members of the team for their successful attack on the United States."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×