LONDON, Oct. 15 (UPI) — Two Libyans have been named as suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 near Lockerbie, Scotland that left 270 dead, including 189 Americans.
Scotland’s Crown Office said the suspects were involved in the bombing, along with Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person convicted in the bombing. The names of the new suspects were not released.
United States and Scottish investigators are now looking to the Libyan government for help locating the suspects for interviews.
“The Lord Advocate and the U.S. Attorney General have recently agreed that there is a proper basis in law in Scotland and the United States to entitle Scottish and U.S. investigators to treat two Libyans as suspects in the continuing investigation into the bombing of flight Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie,” a Crown Office spokesman said in a statement. “The Lord Advocate and the U.S. Attorney General are seeking the assistance of the Libyan judicial authorities for Scottish police officers and the FBI to interview the two named suspects in Tripoli.”
On December 21, 1988, a bomb hidden in a suitcase detonated on a Boeing 747 about 38 minutes into the flight traveling from London to New York City. The plane crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing everyone aboard.
Al-Megrahi was in prison until 2009, when he was released because he was suffering from cancer. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012.
