Lockerbie Bombing: What occurred on the day Pan Am Flight 103 exploded? | EUROtoday
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
Get the free Morning Headlines e-mail for information from our reporters internationally
Sign as much as our free Morning Headlines e-mail
Sign as much as our free Morning Headlines e-mail
The father of a Lockerbie bombing sufferer has urged Sir Keir Starmer to publish the whole lot the UK is aware of concerning the tragedy.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on the aircraft after it exploded over the Scottish city, claimed it was “fishy” a lot info had not been launched concerning the catastrophe.
It comes precisely 36 years because the assault which claimed the lives of 270 folks 4 days earlier than Christmas on 21 December 1988.
“Here we are, 36 years down the road, and we know a lot of material has been kept out of public view,” Dr Swire informed BBC News.
“Why isn’t it in the public interest to release it after 36 years? I think that’s something a lot of people would think is pretty fishy.”
In 2001, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the murders of 270 folks by the introduction of an explosive machine onto a civilian plane.
However, prosecutors have all the time maintained that Megrahi acted with others in finishing up the assault.
Libyan nationwide Abu Agila Masud, who’s alleged to have helped make the bomb, is because of go on trial within the US in May 2025 going through three expenses, which he denies.
Here, The Independent has put collectively a timeline of the tragedy, its aftermath and what’s identified concerning the atrocity.
21 December 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes 31,000 toes over Lockerbie, 38 minutes after take-off from London. The 259 folks on board the Boeing 747 are killed, together with 11 folks on the bottom.
13 November 1991: US and British investigators indict Libyans Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah on 270 counts of homicide, conspiracy to homicide and violating Britain’s 1982 Aviation Security Act.
The males had been accused of being Libyan intelligence brokers.
15 April 1992: The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on air journey and arms gross sales over Libya’s refusal handy the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court docket.
August 1998: Britain and the United States suggest making an attempt the suspects within the Netherlands underneath Scottish legislation.
5 April 1999: The suspects are taken into Dutch custody after flying from Tripoli to an airbase close to The Hague and are formally charged with the bombing. UN sanctions towards Libya are suspended as agreed.
3 May 2000: The trial of Megrahi, 48, and Mr Fhimah, 44, opens at Camp Zeist, a specifically convened Scottish court docket sitting within the Netherlands. Both of the accused deny homicide, exterior.
31 January 2001: Megrahi is discovered responsible of homicide after the historic trial underneath Scottish legislation within the Netherlands. Megrahi’s co-accused, Mr Fhimah, is discovered not responsible and informed he’s free to return residence.
14 August 2003: Lawyers performing for households of the Lockerbie bombing victims say they’ve reached settlement with Libya on the cost of compensation, exterior.
The deal to arrange a $2.7bn (£1.7bn) fund was struck with Libyan officers after negotiations in London.
31 October 2008: Dr Swire reiterates his name for Megrahi to be launched after the killer was recognized with most cancers.
20 August 2009: The Scottish authorities releases Megrahi on compassionate grounds. He returns residence to Libya on board a jet belonging to Libyan chief Muammar Gaddafi.
20 May 2012: Megrahi dies at his residence in Tripoli, aged 60.
22 December 2020: On the thirty second anniversary of the atrocity, the US broadcasts it has filed expenses towards a Libyan suspected of creating the bomb.
11 December 2022: It emerges that Abu Agila Mohammad Masud is in United States custody.
9 December 2024: Part of the Pan Am Flight 103 is transported to the US in preparation for the trial of Masud.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lockerbie-bombing-disaster-timeline-pan-am-explosion-b2667713.html