Lockerbie bombing: New suspect quickly to be charged – US media

The US is because of unseal prices towards a Libyan man suspected of constructing the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, US media say.

They say US prosecutors will quickly press for the extradition of Abu Agila Mohammad to face trial within the US.

He is at the moment being held in Libya, in line with the Wall Street Journal. This has not been confirmed by the Libyan authorities.

The terrorist assault killed 270 individuals over the Scottish city.

Most of the victims on board the flight from London to New York have been American residents.

Libyan nationwide Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was the one man convicted over the bombing in 2001.

Megrahi, who all the time proclaimed his innocence, unsuccessfully appealed towards his conviction.

But he was subsequently allowed to return dwelling after it emerged that he had terminal most cancers. He died in 2012.

The US Department of Justice is anticipated to unseal a prison grievance towards Mr Masud within the coming days, the Wall Street Journal is reporting quoting senior division officers.

It says this may open a brand new chapter in one of many world’s longest and most sprawling terrorism investigations.

Meanwhile, the New York Times says Mr Masud’s precise whereabouts are unknown. But it provides that he was jailed in Libya at one level for unrelated crimes.

Mr Masud is alleged to have been a prime bomb-maker for late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Neither the US justice division nor the Libyan authorities have publicly commented on the problem.

US and British investigators indicted Megrahi in 1991 however he was not handed over by the Libyans till April 1999.

May 2000 – A particular trial underneath Scots legislation begins on impartial floor at Camp Zeist within the Netherlands.

31 January 2001 – Former Libyan intelligence officer Megrahi is discovered responsible of mass homicide and jailed for all times with a minimal time period of 27 years.

March 2002 – Megrahi loses an attraction towards his conviction.

September 2003 – The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is requested to analyze Megrahi’s conviction.

June 2007 – The SCCRC recommends that Megrahi is granted a second attraction towards his conviction.

18 August 2009 – Megrahi’s transfer to drop his second attraction is accepted by judges at The High Court in Edinburgh.

20 August 2009 – Megrahi, who has terminal prostate most cancers, is launched from jail on compassionate grounds.

May 2012 – Megrahi dies at his dwelling in Tripoli, aged 60.

July 2015 – Scottish judges rule that kinfolk of the Lockerbie bombing victims shouldn’t be allowed to pursue an attraction on Megrahi’s behalf. Courts had beforehand dominated that solely subsequent of kin might proceed with a posthumous software.

July 2017 – Megrahi’s household launched a brand new bid to attraction towards his conviction.

March 2020 – The Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission mentioned Megrahi’s conviction will be taken to a recent attraction.