Two new suspects implicated in decades old Lockerbie bombing

By Sarah Harvey

In this December 23, 1988 file photo, Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie
Scotland after a mid-air bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground. REUTERS/Greg Bos
In this December 23, 1988 file photo, Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie Scotland after a mid-air bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground. REUTERS/Greg Bos

Two new suspects have been identified in the almost 27-year-old case of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, officials say.

The 259 people on New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103 and 11 people on the ground were killed when it crashed 38 minutes after takeoff from London on December 21, 1988. It was ruled that a bomb, not a mechanical failure, caused the explosion which downed the plane.

According to CNN Scottish and US officials have identified two Libyan men they suspect of being involved. They have asked for Libya’s help to interview them.

Another Libyan, Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was the only person ever convicted in connection with the bombing. He was found guilty in 2001 but released on compassionate grounds in 2009 because he had terminal cancer. He died in 2012.

Scotland’s chief prosecutor, known as the lord advocate, has issued an International Letter of Request to the Libyan attorney general in Tripoli identifying the pair.

In 2003 Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of the victims, though Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi always remained cagey about admitting official involvement.

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