WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Monday postponed a trial in the U.S. for a former Libyan intelligence official charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, citing the discovery of new evidence that defense attorneys want to examine in the nearly 40-year-old case.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Wednesday for the federal trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi in Washington, D.C. This trial will mark the first in the U.S. related to the tragic bombing that occurred on December 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland, resulting in the deaths of 270 individuals, the majority of whom were Americans.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich’s order did not specify the nature of the newly discovered evidence. However, it indicated a significant development in the case that warrants further investigation.
Al-Marimi’s legal team has stated that prosecutors disclosed the new evidence to them on Saturday, emphasizing their “constitutional and ethical obligations” to thoroughly investigate this development. Defense attorney Laura Koenig, an assistant federal public defender, refrained from disclosing further details in response to inquiries from the Associated Press.
The judge has scheduled a hearing for September 1 in Washington to discuss the current status of the case. Friedrich’s brief order cited the complex nature of the case, the newly discovered evidence, and the necessity for the defense to determine the best approach for defending Al-Marimi as reasons for the trial’s postponement.
Al-Marimi is charged in the U.S. with manufacturing the bomb that downed the airplane. Flight 103 was operating at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9.45 kilometers) over Lockerbie when a bomb in the forward cargo area exploded 38 minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport, en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The explosion claimed the lives of all 259 passengers and crew members aboard the flight, as well as 11 individuals on the ground in Lockerbie, where the wreckage devastated an entire city block. Victims represented 21 countries, including 190 Americans and 43 from the United Kingdom. Notably, the passengers included 35 students from Syracuse University returning home after a semester abroad.
Kara Weipz, board president of the nonprofit organization Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, expressed her shock at the delay, particularly as some relatives of victims were already preparing to attend the trial. Weipz’s own brother, Richard Monetti, was among the Syracuse students who lost their lives in the tragedy.
“At the same time, for almost 38 years we’ve been seeking the truth of what happened,” Weipz remarked. “If that’s what this is, then that’s a good thing, and this delay is worth it. … It’s important to hear all the facts.”
Prosecutors allege that Al-Marimi and others executed the bombing under the direction of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was overthrown and killed during the civil unrest in Libya in 2011. Two other Libyan intelligence agents faced trial by a panel of Scottish judges at a former U.S. military base in the Netherlands in 2000. While one was convicted, the other was acquitted, leaving the identity of the bombmaker a mystery for many years.
Al-Marimi, who is currently in his mid-70s, faces two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors assert that he worked for the Libyan intelligence service from approximately 1973 until 2011, rising to the rank of colonel.
According to investigators, Al-Marimi allegedly transported a suitcase containing the bomb to an airport in Malta, entrusting it to co-conspirators for a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The suitcase eventually made its way to London, where it was loaded onto Flight 103.
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Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this article.
