Two New Lockerbie Bombing Suspects Identified

Two new suspects in the Lockerbie bombing were identified by US and Scottish investigators recently. The new lead comes nearly 27 years after the attack that killed 270 people.

US and Scottish authorities informed the Libyan government that they are sending investigators to talk with the new suspects, said the chief prosecutor of Scotland. US Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said the investigation was discussed by chief Scottish prosecutor Frank Mulholland and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch last month in Washington.

A bomb blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland on December 21, 1988. The aircraft was on its way to New York from London. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi of Libya was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and continues to be the only person convicted for the bombing.

Two New Lockerbie Bombing Suspects Identified - image credit: mirror.co.uk

Another Libyan, Lamin Fhimah, was also accused of being involved in the Lockerbie bombing. He was tried along with Megrahi in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands, but was found innocent of the charges. The names of the two new Libyan suspects were not released, a spokesman for the Scottish Crown Office said.

The spokesman said an International Letter of Request was sent by the Lord Advocate or the chief prosecutor of Scotland to the Attorney General of Libya in Tripoli identifying the two Libyan suspects of the Pan Am flight 103 bombing. The spokesman added that the US Attorney General and Lord Advocate are asking the judicial authorities of Libya to provide assistance to the FBI and Scottish police officers in interviewing the two suspects in Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi, former leader of Libya, accepted the responsibility of his country for the Lockerbie bombing in 2003 and paid compensation to the families of the victims. However, he did not admit to giving the orders for the attack. Megrahi maintained his innocence and was released by the government of Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds following a diagnosis that he had terminal cancer. He died in 2012 in Libya. Some relatives of the victims and his family believe he was innocent of the charges.

The top prosecutor of Scotland revealed in December that no new evidence was found, which cast doubts on the conviction of Megrahi. However, violence in Libya following the fall of Gaddafi hampered efforts in tracking down accomplices. A lawyer for the families of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing, Jim Kreindler, said it is important to ensure everyone involved in the attack are identified.

Posted by James Fried on Friday October 16 2015, 10:55 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0