Africa-Press. The U.S. judiciary has decided to postpone the trial of former Libyan intelligence officer Abu Agila Muhammad Mas’ud Kheir al-Marimi, who is accused of involvement in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, after new evidence emerged that the defense team requested time to examine.
Jury selection for the first trial in the United States regarding the attack, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 270 people, mostly Americans, was scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
The ruling issued by federal judge Dabney Friedrich did not disclose the nature of the newly discovered materials or evidence.
The defense team reported that the prosecution had informed them of the existence of this evidence, affirming that their legal and ethical obligations require a thorough investigation into the recent developments. Meanwhile, federal defense attorney Laura Koenig declined to provide further details.
Background of the Charges
The U.S. indictment indicates that al-Marimi worked in the Libyan intelligence service from 1973 to 2011, rising to the rank of colonel. Washington accuses him of manufacturing the bomb used in the bombing of the plane over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, which killed all 259 passengers on board, in addition to 11 people on the ground.
Al-Marimi was arrested in Libya after the fall of the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi, and U.S. officials have not disclosed how he arrived in the United States, while Libyan media report that the Libyan suspect was kidnapped from his home in Tripoli.
The trial proceedings for al-Marimi come decades after the trial of two Libyan intelligence agents in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands in 2000, where one was convicted and the other acquitted. The identity of the bombmaker remained unclear until al-Marimi was brought to trial.
Commenting on the postponement of the trial proceedings, Kara Weips, head of the “Victims of Pan Am 103” organization, stated that the victims’ families had not received additional details regarding the evidence, describing the postponement decision as shocking, noting that some families were preparing to attend the sessions.
Weips added, “We have been seeking the complete truth for about 38 years, and if this development will contribute to uncovering the facts and hearing them in full, then this postponement is worth the wait.”
It is noteworthy that the Gaddafi regime paid over two billion dollars to the victims’ families in 2008 to close the case.
