The first US trial connected to the Lockerbie bombing has been postponed, days before jury selection was due to begin after the discovery of new evidence.
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence officer accused of making the bomb which destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, had been due to stand trial in Washington DC this week.
US District Judge Dabney Friedrich delayed proceedings on Monday after prosecutors disclosed new material to the defence. The precise nature of the evidence has not been made public. Lawyers representing Mas’ud said they were informed about it on Saturday and required time to investigate.
Judge Friedrich cited the newly discovered material, evidence held in other countries and the need for the defence to decide how best to present its case. No replacement trial date has been formally announced. A hearing will be held in Washington on 1 September to consider the next steps.
The postponement is the latest delay to proceedings against Mas’ud, who is in his mid-70s and has pleaded not guilty. He faces two charges of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted.
US prosecutors allege Mas’ud constructed a time-delayed bomb and took it in a suitcase to Malta, where it was passed to co-conspirators. Investigators claim the suitcase travelled through Frankfurt and London before being loaded into the hold of the Boeing 747 operating Pan Am Flight 103.
The aircraft was flying from Heathrow to New York when the bomb exploded over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988. All 259 passengers and crew were killed, along with 11 people on the ground. The 270 victims included 190 Americans and 43 people from the UK.
Mas’ud is alleged to have admitted his involvement while being questioned by a Libyan police officer in 2012. His lawyers dispute the account and have challenged the reliability and circumstances of the alleged confession.
American prosecutors say Mas’ud worked for Libya’s intelligence service for almost four decades and carried out the attack with others under the direction of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. He denies any wrongdoing.
Kara Weipz, president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group, said relatives had not been told what the new evidence contained. Some family members had already been preparing to travel to Washington when news of the delay emerged.
Ms Weipz, whose brother Richard Monetti was killed in the bombing, said relatives had spent almost 38 years seeking the truth.
Mas’ud was charged by the US authorities in 2020 and taken into American custody in December 2022. The case will be the first Lockerbie prosecution to take place in the United States.
Two other Libyan intelligence officers were tried before Scottish judges at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2000. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted, while Lamin Khalifah Fhimah was acquitted.
Laura Buchan, head of the Lockerbie investigation team at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “I recognise that this adjournment will be disappointing for the families and for those who have followed this case over many years.
“As the matter remains before the court, it would not be appropriate to comment on the reasons for the adjournment.
“Although these proceedings are being led by the United States authorities, Scottish prosecutors and police officers remain fully committed to supporting the pursuit of justice.”
Dr Jim Swire, a campaigner for justice since his daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said: “For many years, we’ve been after only one thing, and that is the truth. If each delay allows the court to assemble more of the true evidence, I am all in favour of it.
“The judge seems to have stuck her oar in and insisted on further care being taken about the assembly of evidence, and if so, that is good news.”