WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. federal judge has delayed the trial of a former Libyan intelligence official accused of involvement in the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. The decision comes after new evidence surfaced, prompting defense attorneys to request further examination of the nearly four-decade-old case.
The federal trial for Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was set to begin jury selection on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. This trial marks the first in the U.S. concerning the December 21, 1988 bombing.
Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court did not disclose the specifics of the newly found evidence.
According to Al-Marimi’s legal team, prosecutors informed them of the new evidence on Saturday. They emphasized their “constitutional and ethical obligations” to explore this development further. Defense attorney Laura Koenig, a federal public defender, did not provide additional details when contacted by the Associated Press.
A hearing to evaluate the case status has been scheduled for September 1 in Washington. Friedrich’s concise order referenced the case’s complexity, the fresh evidence, and the necessity for the defense to evaluate their strategy as reasons for the trial’s postponement.
In the United States, Al-Marimi faces charges of constructing the bomb that destroyed the aircraft, killing 270 people, most of whom were Americans.
The explosion on Flight 103 occurred at 31,000 feet (9.45 kilometers) above Lockerbie, 38 minutes after departing from London Heathrow Airport. The plane was en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The detonation resulted in the deaths of all 259 passengers and crew members, along with 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie. The wreckage obliterated an entire city block. Victims included citizens from 21 countries, notably 190 Americans and 43 from the United Kingdom. Among the passengers were 35 Syracuse University students returning from studying abroad.
Prosecutors assert that Al-Marimi, along with others, orchestrated the bombing under the direction of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was deposed and killed in a 2011 civil conflict.
Previously, two Libyan intelligence agents were tried by a panel of Scottish judges at a former U.S. military base in the Netherlands in 2000. One official was convicted while the other was acquitted, though the identity of the bombmaker remained elusive for years.
Al-Marimi, now in his mid-70s, is charged with two counts of destroying an aircraft resulting in death. If found guilty, he could face a life sentence.
Prosecutors state that Al-Marimi served the Libyan intelligence service from around 1973 to 2011, achieving the rank of colonel.
Investigators believe he transported a suitcase containing a bomb to an airport in Malta and handed it to co-conspirators for a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The suitcase was subsequently flown from Frankfurt to London, where it was loaded onto Flight 103.
