FBI takes custody of Libyan who built bomb used to bring down Pan Am Flight 103
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud was charged in the 1988 bombing of the jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. He is being extradited to the United States.
FollowThe Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud, a Libyan national, who is charged with building the explosive device used in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 passengers, including 190 Americans.
Abu was charged in the 1988 bombing of a jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. He is being extradited to the United States. The Lockerbie bombing -- the deadliest terrorist attack to have taken place in United Kingdom -- claimed the lives of 259 people on board the airliner. Eleven people in the town of Lockerbie were killed by falling debris. The Boeing 747, 'Clipper Maid of the Seas', was destroyed while it was en route from Heathrow to JFK Airport in New York. The bomb was detonated in the aircraft's forward cargo hold.
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A US Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed that they had Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud in their custody and that he is expected to make his initial appearance in the US District Court.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) spokesman said: "The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi ("Mas'ud" or "Masoud") is in United States custody. To bring those who acted along with Al Megrahi to justice, Scottish prosecutors and police, working with the UK government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation."
To recall, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi was the only person convicted for the bombing. He was convicted in 2001 by a specially-convened Scottish court in the Netherlands. He was released in 2009 by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after his cancer diagnosis. Megrahi died in 2012.
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