Experts reconstructed the bomb that they believe brought down Pan Am Flight 103 and obtained Semtex samples from Czechoslovakia GETTY IMAGESBritain carried out a top-secret exchange of explosives with the communist Czech authorities after the Lockerbie disaster, it has emerged. Ministers were convinced that the terrorists who blew up Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 used Semtex, the plastic explosive manufactured in Czechoslovakia and used by Iranian and Libyan-sponsored terrorist organisations, as well as the IRA. Previously classified files show that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) negotiated a deal with the repressive regime to obtain samples for analysis. A document dated October 23, 1989, notes: “In the wake of the Lockerbie disaster there have been contacts with the Czech authorities with the aim of obtaining samples of the Semtex plastic explosive. “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the MoD have been discussing the exchange of…

Source: The Times November 30, 2018 00:00 UTC