News Desk
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: Libyan citizen Abu Agila Masud, one of the main suspects accused of making the bomb that destroyed Pan Am flight 103 in the southern Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, appeared in a US court on Tuesday.
Appearance in court
Masud, who was earlier taken into custody from Libya by the US authorities, appeared at the Washington DC federal courthouse in person.
The suspect, who was wearing a green jumpsuit, appeared in the court and confirm his name. He was not invited to enter a plea, Sky News said.
The proceedings lasted for almost an hour and paved the way for his further detention hearing on December 27.
The suspect, through federal lawyers, said he had not yet been able to engage his legal counsel. Masud was given a week to hire a legal counsel and he will remain in custody.
The Lockerbie bombing on board the Boeing 747 had left 259 passengers, including crew members, dead 34 years ago.
The US charged Masud two years ago for his alleged involvement in making and executing the bombing on December 21, 1988.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil. The jumbo jet was going to New York from London when it exploded over Lockerbie and hit a settlement, also killing 11 people after the wreckage destroyed their homes.
Earlier last month, it was reported that a Libyan militia group kidnaped Masud and it was speculated that he would be handed over to the US authorities to stand trial.
A spokesperson for US Justice Department told Reuters that Masud would appear in a federal court in Washington.
Masud served a prison sentence in Libya after he was convicted on bomb-making charges.
In 2001, a Scottish court in the Netherlands handed down a life sentence to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the main suspect in the bombing after he stood trial at a specially convened Scottish court in the Netherlands.
Megrahi, the only man convicted of the attack, was released in 2009 on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government after he was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2012 in Libya.
According to some reports while in jail in Libya, Masud confessed to conspiring with Megrahi to blow up the jet.
The Lockerbie bombing on board the Boeing 747 had left a total of 259 passengers including crew members dead 34 years ago.
US charges Masud
The US charged Masud two years ago for his alleged involvement in making and executing the bombing on December 21, 1988.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil. The jumbo jet was going to New York from London when it exploded over Lockerbie and hit a settlement, also killing 11 people after the wreckage destroyed their homes.
Earlier last month, it was reported that a Libyan militia group kidnaped Masud and it was speculated that he would be handed over to the US authorities to stand trial.
A spokesperson for US Justice Department told Reuters that Masud would appear in a federal court in Washington.
Masud served a prison sentence in Libya after he was convicted on bomb-making charges.
In 2001, a Scottish court in the Netherlands handed down a life sentence to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the main suspect in the bombing after he stood trial at a specially convened Scottish court in the Netherlands.
Megrahi, the only man convicted of the attack, was released in 2009 on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government after he was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2012 in Libya.
According to some reports while in jail in Libya, Masud confessed to conspiring with Megrahi to blow up the jet.
