Lockerbie bombing suspect appears in court, prosecution seeks life in prison

A Libyan intelligence operative, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who is alleged to have made the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, appeared in a federal court in Washington on Monday. He appeared in a US courtroom nearly 34 years after the incident on Boeing 747 that killed 270 people. The plane was flying from London to New York City. Apart from all 259 people on board, 11 people on the ground also lost their lives.

US and British law enforcement officials allege that Mas'ud is one of three people involved with the bombing. The 71-year-old wore a green jumpsuit and appeared to walk with a limp and complained of flu symptoms as he clutched a tissue.

"I cannot talk before I see my attorney," Mas'ud told US Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather.

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Mas'ud had allegedly confessed his crimes to a Libyan law enforcement official back in September 2012. He appeared in court just days after being captured in Libya.

The Justice Department is seeking to detain him pending trial. The detention hearing is due to be held later this month after Mas'ud decides who will represent him in the case.

"Countless families have never fully recovered from his actions," prosecutor Erik Kenerson told the court.

Kenerson added that since death penalty wasn't a legally available penalty at the time the crimes were committed, the maximum sentence available will be life in prison.

Two other Libyan intelligence operatives, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, were charged for the bombing in 1991.

Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing in 2001 in The Netherlands and jailed for life. He was later released because he was suffering from cancer and died at his home in Tripoli in 2012.

Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Scottish prosecutors have maintained that Megrahi did not act alone.

A dramatic capture

Mas'ud's nephew, Abdulmenam Marimi has said thatarmed men came to his family's home in Tripoli in mid-November and took the accused bomb maker away. Mas'ud had been living there since his release from detention last year. He had been in jail following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Libya's autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi. He apparently played a role in the former government.

The family only learned he had been moved to the United States when they saw it reported on the news, Marimi said.

Libya's Government of National Unity did not say anything on Mas'ud's transfer to the United States. However, its political rivals have accused it of illegally handing him over to Washington to gather support in Libya's ongoing standoff over control of government.

The family has also lodged a formal complaint with Libya's attorney general over Mas'ud's transfer to the United States, Marimi said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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