Lawyers request the postponement of Lockerbie’s bombing process

Lawyers for both criminal and defense prosecution have requested the suspect’s process in the US Lockerbie bombardment to be postponed.

Abu Agila Mas’ud al-Marimi was due in court on May 12, 2025, accused of building the bomb that descended Pan I Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988.

But the defense lawyers of the US government and Mas’ud have asked to be called to the court in Washington.

It is assumed that the National Libian national helped to make the bomb that killed 259 passengers and crew on board Jumbo Jet tied to New York on London on December 21, 1988.

Another 11 people were killed in Lockerbie when Wreckage destroyed his homes, in what remains the most deadly terrorist attack of the United Kingdom.

In a motion submitted by American prosecutors, lawyers have requested the delayed date scheduled due to MAS’ud was undergoing treatment for a “pre-existing health condition”, as well as the complexity of the case.

They said previously they expected Mas’ud’s health to cause a delay of about 90 to 120 days. In the motion deposited on Wednesday, they said that an additional delay is expected.

Lawyers have also said that they need more time to come up with a “reasonable preventive program and to set up a future trial.”

If the judge grants the motion, a status hearing would be set for the week of March 10.

Aaib

Mas’ud pleaded guilty for three accusations, including two charges of destroying an aircraft resulting in death and an additional number of destruction of a vehicle that led to death.

He faces life in prison, if found guilty.

In 2022, American officials announced that Mas’ud, who was supposed to have worked as an information agent for the former dictator of Muammar Gaddafi, was arrested, two years after he was revealed to have been accused of explosion.

In 2020, he was accused by US Attorney General William Barr, being the third person involved in the terrorist attack.

A section of the aircraft in the Lockerbie bombardment was transported to the US before the process of the Washington Libyan suspect last year.

At that time, the lawyer of the Lord of Scotland, Dorothy Bain KC, said: “The transfer of evidence for the US trial is a strong expression of the commitment that Scottish prosecutors and police officers will bring all those responsible for this terrible act in justice.”

The bombing of Pan AM 103 is the most deadly terrorist attack on the British Earth and the biggest case that the prosecutors of Scotland have ever met, both in terms of the stairs and the complexity.

243 passengers, 16 crew members, as well as 11 residents in Lockerbie were killed. In total, victims came from 21 different countries.

Laura Buhan, who is the head of a team of prosecutors from the Crown Office and the prosecutor’s Fiscal Service, said: “Because Mas’ud was arrested by the US in 2022, the Scottish prosecutors and the police were employed in a formal process of evidence with the US Department of Justice.

“The transfer of physical evidence from Scotland to US custody begins. The transfer includes parts of the Pan AM fuselage, which are a production in the criminal investigation. We understand that the fuselage will have significance for many of the families of those who have lost their lives and have been informed about the transfer plans. “