Washington (US), Aug. 25 (LaPresse) – A US federal judge has postponed the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence official accused of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, after new evidence was found that defense lawyers intend to examine. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin tomorrow for the federal trial in Washington, D.C., the first in the United States related to the December 21, 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people, mostly Americans. The judge scheduled a hearing for September 1 to discuss the status of the case. In his brief order, he cited the complexity of the case, the new evidence and “the need for the defense to determine the best way to defend this case” as reasons for postponing the trial. Al-Marimi is accused in the United States of manufacturing the bomb that brought down the aircraft. Flight 103 was over Lockerbie when a bomb in the forward cargo hold exploded 38 minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport. The flight was bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The explosion killed all 259 people on board, including passengers and crew members, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, where the debris destroyed an entire block. Citizens of 21 countries were killed, including 190 Americans and 43 Britons. Among the passengers were 35 Syracuse University students returning home after a semester abroad. Two other Libyan intelligence agents were tried in 2000 by a panel of Scottish judges at a former US military base in the Netherlands. The court convicted one and acquitted the other, but the identity of the mastermind behind the bombing remained a mystery. Prosecutors allege that Al-Marimi brought a suitcase containing a bomb to an airport in Malta and handed it over to accomplices for a flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany. The suitcase was then transported from Frankfurt to London, where it was loaded onto Flight 103.
US, new evidence: trial postponed for Libyan accused of Pan Am flight bombing
Washington (US), Aug. 25 (LaPresse) – A US federal judge has postponed the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence official accused of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, after new evidence was found that defense lawyers intend to examine. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin tomorrow for the federal trial in Washington, D.C., the first in the United States related to the December 21, 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people, mostly Americans. The judge scheduled a hearing for September 1 to discuss the status of the case. In his brief order, he cited the complexity of the case, the new evidence and “the need for the defense to determine the best way to defend this case” as reasons for postponing the trial. Al-Marimi is accused in the United States of manufacturing the bomb that brought down the aircraft. Flight 103 was over Lockerbie when a bomb in the forward cargo hold exploded 38 minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport. The flight was bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The explosion killed all 259 people on board, including passengers and crew members, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, where the debris destroyed an entire block. Citizens of 21 countries were killed, including 190 Americans and 43 Britons. Among the passengers were 35 Syracuse University students returning home after a semester abroad. Two other Libyan intelligence agents were tried in 2000 by a panel of Scottish judges at a former US military base in the Netherlands. The court convicted one and acquitted the other, but the identity of the mastermind behind the bombing remained a mystery. Prosecutors allege that Al-Marimi brought a suitcase containing a bomb to an airport in Malta and handed it over to accomplices for a flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany. The suitcase was then transported from Frankfurt to London, where it was loaded onto Flight 103.