The deadliest terrorist attack in UK history nearly 40 years ago claimed the lives of 270 people.
US officials have expressed confidence that the trial of a Libyan man accused of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 will “successfully” go ahead in the new year after a recent postponement caused concern among campaigners.
The federal prosecution of Abu Agila Masud over the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history is now due to get under way on January 11 in Washington DC after the judge ordered a delay last week, citing the disclosure of new evidence that defence lawyers wanted to examine.
The last-minute hold-up, just as jury selection was set to begin, sparked consternation within the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group, given the elderly age of many bereaved relatives.
A spokesman for the US Department of Justice said: “It is not unusual for trials to be continued, and the government is confident that this case will go forward at the new trial date successfully.”
However, a hearing due to be held into the status of the postponed case on Tuesday was itself delayed until September 15.
Court documents said this was due to “the complex nature of the case, the amount of time required to adequately prepare for pretrial proceedings and for trial… the voluminous discovery, including newly discovered evidence, as well as evidence located in other countries… and the need for the defence to determine how best to defend this case”.
As such it was concluded the “ends of justice… outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial”.
The nature of the newly discovered evidence has not been revealed.
Masud’s legal team say the disclosure was made at short notice and that their “constitutional and ethical obligations require the defence to investigate this development”.
The defendant, now in his mid-70s, is charged with two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death.
He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors claim he once confessed to his role, although this has been challenged by his lawyers.
Masud, who was extradited from Libya to the US in 2022, has denied the charges.
All 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000ft above Lockerbie and 38 minutes into its flight from London to New York.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only person convicted in connection with the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.
He was sent to serve his prison sentence in Scotland but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.
His fellow Libyan co-accused Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, who was cleared at the time of involvement in the atrocity, was recently reported to have died.
Scottish prosecutors have always maintained that Megrahi acted with others in carrying out the attack.
