London – The Libyan man who made the bomb used to destroy the Pan American plane flying over Lockerbeek in Scotland is in US custody. Abu Agila Masoud, who was the trusted bomb maker of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was caught in the case 34 years following the plane crash.
On December 21, 1988, a Boeing 747 flying from London to New York crashed in an explosion, killing 270 people, including passengers and local residents. Masood was indicted two years ago, and the US began trying to extradite him for trial. Last month there were reports that Massoud had been kidnapped by an armed group in Libya.
A mysterious figure in Libya, the technologist was imprisoned following being found involved in the 2011 protests that led to Gaddafi’s ouster. His name was involved in the initial investigation in the Lockerbie case. The turning point in the US investigation was the receipt of a copy of Massoud’s confession to Libyan authorities.
In 2009, the Scottish government released Abdul Basit al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer who was convicted in 2001 for planting a bomb on a plane, on the grounds that he was a cancer patient. He died three years later at his home in Tripoli, Libya.
British officials believe that the Lockerbie disaster was planned by Gaddafi’s spies in retaliation for the US bombing of Libya. 189 of those who died in the bombing were Americans. There were 7 Indians.
English Summary: Libyan charged in 1988 lockerbie plane bombing under custody
