US takes Lockerbie plane bomb suspect into custody

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who is accused of making the explosive device, is expected to make his initial court appearance in Washington

The bomb on board a Boeing 747 en route to the US in 1988, killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground – the deadliest ever militant attack in Britain

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Crash investigators inspect the nose section of the crashed Pan Am flight 103 in a field near Lockerbie, Scotland in1988. Photo: AP

Published: 10:58pm, 11 Dec 2022Updated: 12:20am, 12 Dec 2022

A Libyan man accused of making the bomb that killed 270 people after it blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 is in custody in the United States, Scottish and US law enforcement officials said on Sunday.

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was taken into custody about two years after former US Attorney General Bill Barr first announced the United States filed charges against him.

A Justice Department official confirmed on Sunday that the United States has taken custody of the alleged Pan Am flight 103 bomb maker. Mas’ud is expected to make his initial court appearance in a federal court in Washington.

Further details about the timing of the court hearing will be forthcoming, the official said.

The remains of the nose of Pan Am 103 in a field in Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988. Photo: AP

Court documents described Mas’ud as an expert bomb maker who joined Libya’s External Security Organisation intelligence service in the 1970s and took part in a number of operations outside Libya, reaching the rank of colonel.