Pan Am Bomb-maker Charged 32 Years After Attack
The US charged Libyan Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi for his role in the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The charges come on the 32nd anniversary of the attack the killed 270 people, including 190 Americans.
Al-Marimi is currently imprisoned in Libya and awaits extradition to the United States. It is unknown if and how the Libyan government will corporate with his extradition.
Al-Marimi worked as a Libyan intelligence expert for Muammar Gaddafi. Evidence obtained by the US Justice Department revealed his connection to the Lockerbie bombing at Ghadifi’s instructions.
Evidence also implicates Al-Marimi in a 1986 bombing in Berlin.
British and US officials long suspected Libya and Gaddafi's involvement in the Lockerbie bombing. The festering relationship between the US and Libya ruptured into violence in 1986 when the Reagan Administration initiated a bombing campaign against the African country. Despite the overwhelming destruction delivered to Ghaddafi, the eccentric dictator continued to sponsor terrorist actions around the world.
Even before the ‘86 operation, Ghaddafi established himself as a terrorist sponsor, underwriting militant groups in West Germany, Italy, and Ireland.
In 2003, Ghadifi himself acknowledged his role in the Pan Am terrorist attack, resulting in a blistering round of international sanctions against the despot and his country through 2006.
In 2011, during the height of the Arab Spring, Libyan revolutionaries assassinated Gaddafi. The ensuing unrest boiled over in 2012 when rioters stormed the US embassy in Benghazi resulting in four US casualties including the US Libyan Ambassador.
Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Lockerbie terrorist attack marked the single deadliest terrorist attack in US history. It remains the deadliest in Britain to this day.
International officials charged two individuals with the bombing in 2001: Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. The Scottish court acquitted Fhimah on all charges and sentenced al-Megrahi to life in prison; the Scottish government later released al-Megrahi in 2009 after his terminal cancer diagnosis. He died in 2012.
Despite the 32 years of investigation, the FBI maintained its case on the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. On Monday, the anniversary of the bombing, FBI Director Christopher Wray delivered a fitting remark, stating “We will never forget the loved ones who were lost, and we remain committed to continuing our work to achieve justice for the victims and their families.”
Attorney General William Barr echoed Wray’s sentiment at a press conference where he announced the charges against al-Marimi.
“As to all the victims and the families, we cannot take away your pain from your loss, but we can seek justice for you. Our message to other terrorists around the world is this – you will not succeed – if you attack Americans, no matter where you are, no matter how long it takes, you will be pursued to the ends of the earth until justice is done,” Barr said.
Both the Attorney General and Robert Mueller worked closely during the Bush Administration to investigate the crime and wider terrorist connections. The two have attended annual remembrance ceremonies for the victims ever since.
This tragedy remains a tangled mess of failed diplomacy and violence. Its shadow trails behind leaders long gone and countries missing from the map. It’s also averaged and rounded off by all the tragedy to come after it.
But this terrorist bombing still lingers in our minds and hearts 32 years later. It’s a living history of the Cold War. Most tragically, it has created a permanent state of shock and heartbreak for those commemorating the year’s end the same way they did 32 years ago: with someone missing.
