“Although nearly 34 years have passed since the defendant’s actions, countless families have never fully recovered,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson said during a court proceeding attended by victims’ relatives. The Justice Department announced Sunday that Mas’ud had been taken into U.S. custody, two years after it revealed that it had charged him in connection with the explosion. Two other Libyan intelligence officials have been charged in the U.S. for their alleged involvement in the attack, but Mas’ud was the first defendant to appear in an American courtroom for prosecution. The New York-bound Pan Am flight exploded over Lockerbie less than an hour after takeoff from London on Dec. 21, 1988. Among the 190 Americans on board were 35 Syracuse University students flying home for Christmas after a semester abroad.

Source: Libya Today December 13, 2022 10:53 UTC