MONITORING DESK
ISLAMABAD: The bombmaker of the explosives that caused the Pam Am 103 flight to blow up over Lockerbie in 1988 is now in the custody of the United States.
It is believed that the man is the third member behind the conspiracy that attacked the plane. His name is Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir al-Marimi.
According to the American Justice Department, Abu Agila has been detained and is set to appear in a Washington D.C. federal court. The date and time of the said appearance have not been disclosed.
Bombed flight death toll included 243 passengers
A total of 16 crew members and 243 passengers perished when a bomb that was planted on the airliner exploded at 38,000 feet.
When the Flight Pan Am plane’s debris fell onto houses in Scotland’s Lockerbie 11 more people died.
Just one person, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, has ever been convicted over the bombing. Abdelbaset got a life term in jail in 2001 and in 2009 was released on compassionate grounds as that time he had been diagnosed with cancer. In 2012 he passed away.
The Scottish authorities in a statement said that the kin of those who were killed in the bombing had been informed Abu Agila was in US custody.
