A U.S. judge has postponed the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, accused in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. The delay is due to newly discovered evidence that defense attorneys need time to examine.
The postponement delays justice for the victims and their families and allows more time for the defense to scrutinize evidence in a case that has spanned decades and involved complex international legal proceedings.
A federal judge on Monday postponed the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, a Libyan intelligence operative accused of building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Washington D.C. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich cited the discovery of new evidence that defense attorneys want to examine, as well as evidence located in other countries, necessitating a delay to allow the defense to determine how best to proceed. A court hearing is scheduled for September 1 to discuss next steps, but no new trial date has been set. Mas'ud, in his mid-70s, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the destruction of the aircraft and faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted. The bombing, which killed all 259 people on board the Boeing 747 and 11 on the ground, made former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi an international pariah. Mas'ud's lawyers have challenged the credibility of evidence, including an alleged confession to a Libyan police officer in 2012, a year after Gaddafi's government was toppled. Mas'ud was arrested in Libya and brought to the U.S. in 2022, accused of building a time-delayed bomb packed into a suitcase.
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