Libyan man arrested for bombing of 1988 Pan Am flight

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a Libyan intelligence official and explosives expert, is in U.S. custody for allegedly bombing Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, the U.S. Justice Department said Sunday. The plane was on its way from London to New York when the bomb killed 270 people from 21 countries, including 190 Americans. U.S. officials said Mas’ud confessed in 2012 to Libyan authorities that he built the bomb. The Justice Department filed charges against him in 2020. U.S. officials have not said how he came into custody, but local Libyan media reported he was abducted by armed men from his home in mid-November. 

Has anyone else been charged? In 2020, the U.S. also charged Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah in connection with the bombing. The FBI said that during Mas’ud’s confession, he said he flew to Malta to meet al-Megrahi and Fhimah. Mas’ud said he gave Fhimah the suitcase with the bomb in it. The Libyan government turned over the two men to be tried by a panel of Scottish judges. Al-Megrahi was convicted and received a life sentence, while Fhimah was acquitted. 

Dig deeper: From the archives, read Onize Ohikere’s World Tour report on the nations and stakeholders involved in Libya’s unrest.