LONDON – In breaking news being announced today, it is understood one of the main suspects in the Lockerbie bombing has been arrested today and is now in US custody, something which Scottish authorities have confirmed.
The Libyan man named Abu Agila Musud was charged in the US two years ago, after it was alleged that he had played a key role in the bombing on December 21, 1988.
It is understood that last month he was reportedly kidnapped by a militia group in Libya, which has been leading to speculation that he was going to be handed over to American authorities to stand trial.
This now would appear to be the case after the American department of justice confirmed they had the suspect in custody.
Major Break Through After Years of Pain
One of the other men involved in the attack Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of bombing Pan Am 103 In 2001, standing trial at a specially-convened Scottish court in the Netherlands. He was at the time the only man to be convicted for the attack, which took the lives of 270 people.
He was sentenced to life but was later released by the Scottish government in 2009 on compassionate grounds after he was diagnosed with cancer, later dying in Libya in 2012.
In a quote provided to the UK news outlet BBC news, a spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) 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 US custody.
“Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with Al Megrahi to justice.”
33 Years on Since Lockerbie
On December 21, 1988, a Pan AM flight PA 103 departed from London Heathrow on Route to JFK carrying 270 passengers and crew on board, at around 19:00pm a loud explosion was heard over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie which was littered with the remains of the 747 jumbo jet and was a stark reminder of the horrors of commercial aviation terrorism.
As we approach the 33-year anniversary of the incident, there may now be some glimmer of hope for the victim’s families that they can begin to have closure on this horrible event with the announcement today of the arrest of one of the main people who planned and executed the attack.
we now must wait to hear the outcome of this arrest today, which hopefully will allow everyone to close the chapter on this terrible crime.
