Today, Attorney General William Barr announced new charges against a former Libyan intelligence operative, Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi [DOJ Announcement] for his role in building the bomb that killed 270 individuals in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988. [Video and Transcript Below]
[Transcript] – On this day 32 years ago, December 21, 1988, at 7:03 p.m. local time, a bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew 31,000 feet above Lockerbie, Scotland. The massive Boeing 747 plane, known as the “Clipper Maid of the Seas,” exploded and fell to the ground in countless pieces scattered across 840 square miles, nearly the entire width of Scotland.
The explosion killed all 259 people on board—243 passengers and 16 crew members, including 190 Americans. Falling debris claimed the lives of 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground, many of whom were in their homes and had just sat down for dinner.
The Lockerbie bombing remains the deadliest single terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom, and the second deadliest terrorist attack for Americans—surpassed only by the 9/11 attacks.
Immediately after the bombing, the FBI partnered with law enforcement agencies from Scotland to investigate. That joint investigation led to the filing of charges in 1991 against two Libyan intelligence officers. The investigation also pointed to another conspirator—a man known by the name “Abu Agela Masud”—but at the time, investigators were unable to identify or locate that suspect.
Joined this morning by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers … Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin … and Kara Weipz, whose brother Rick Monetti was killed on the flight and who now leads a Pan Am Flight 103 advocacy organization, I am pleased to announce that the United States has filed criminal charges against the third conspirator, Abu Agila Muhammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Let there be no mistake: no amount of time or distance will stop the United States, and its partners in Scotland, from pursuing justice in this case.
Well over a third of Americans alive today were not yet born on the day of the Lockerbie bombing or would not have been old enough to remember it. But for those of us who do remember, that tragic event and the iconic images of its aftermath, some of which are displayed here today, are forever seared in our memories.
Passengers and crew aboard the flight came from 21 countries around the world. But by far the largest contingent on that doomed flight were Americans, including a group of 35 study-abroad students from Syracuse University who were on their way home to spend the holidays with their families.
There is no question that the Pan Am 103 attack was aimed at the United States, and this heinous assault lives in infamy in the collective memory of the American people. At Arlington National Cemetery, a cairn of 270 Scottish stones honors “those who lost their lives in this attack against America.” And at Syracuse University, 35 Remembrance Scholarships are awarded each year, with each recipient representing a particular Syracuse student killed aboard the plane.
Following the bombing, many of the victims’ families made an agonizing journey to Scotland to the place where they lost their loved ones. The people of Lockerbie, though devastated themselves, provided around-the-clock hospitality. In an unforgettable gesture, a group of Scottish women meticulously collected clothing from amid the wreckage; washed, ironed, and folded the garments they found; and sent them home to the victims’ family members as a final connection to their loved ones. Sadly, the remains of 17 victims were never identified or found.
From the beginning, the United States and Scotland have been determined to find and hold accountable those who perpetrated the Pan Am 103 attack. As I mentioned, our joint investigation led to the filing of charges in November 1991 in both the United States and Scotland against two Libyan intelligence officers—Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. Nearly ten years later, in May 2000, a specially established Scottish court convened in The Netherlands to try the two men. In January 2001, Megrahi was convicted on all charges, but Fhimah was acquitted.
The breakthrough that has led to the charges announced today arose when law enforcement learned in 2016 that the third conspirator had been arrested after the collapse of the Qaddafi regime and interviewed by a Libyan law enforcement officer in September 2012. According to the criminal complaint affidavit, Masud built the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 and worked with Megrahi and Fhimah to carry out the plot. The affidavit also alleges that the operation had been ordered by the leadership of Libyan intelligence and that, after the downing of the aircraft, Qaddafi had thanked Masud for the successful attack on the United States. In addition to his involvement in the Lockerbie bombing, Masud was also involved in the 1986 bombing of the LaBelle Discotheque in Berlin, West Germany, which killed two American service members and a Turkish woman. Although Masud remains in Libyan custody, Libyan authorities provided a copy of the interview to law enforcement.
Based on that and other evidence, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division unsealed a complaint this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Masud with terrorism-related crimes for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. At long last, this man responsible for killing Americans and many others will be subject to justice for his crimes.
The Lockerbie bombing case holds special significance for me because I was serving as the Acting Attorney General when charges were filed against Megrahi and Fhimah in 1991. I know firsthand the toil, tears, and sweat that have been poured into pursuing justice for the victims of the Lockerbie bombing and their families. And so it is with profound gratitude that I recognize and thank our law enforcement friends in Scotland for their nearly 32-year partnership with us on this case.
I also thank Lord Advocate of Scotland James Wolffe for his continued partnership. There is much work still to be done, and we will not be able to do it without our colleagues in Scotland. We are committed to working arm-in-arm with them as we move forward in this case. I am especially proud of the countless agents and analysts of the FBI who have worked the Pan Am 103 case relentlessly over the decades. Thank you for your dedication and perseverance. And finally, I thank the prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the National Security Division for their many years of hard work and for preparing the charges in this case.
Today, Masud remains in Libyan custody, and we intend to work closely with our Scottish counterparts to use every feasible and appropriate means to ensure that he answers for his part in the Lockerbie bombing. It is my hope that Libyan authorities will allow Masud to be tried for this crime and will provide the support and witnesses necessary to bring him to justice.
Nevertheless, while we will never rest in our efforts to hold Masud accountable, I hope that the families of the lost will find some comfort in the charges filed today. The alleged facts underlying these charges fill important gaps in the historical record and help complete the account of how the bombing was executed and who was responsible. Finding the truth is the first step toward achieving justice.
Much has changed in the more than three decades since Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie. Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2003. Qaddafi and his regime are no more. Libya is no longer at war with America. And while we still face terrorist threats, our terrorist enemies are different, and we are more vigilant. Time, to be sure, marches on, and there is a tendency to think that grief does as well. But even though grief, like memories, may fade, for those who have lost love ones unexpectedly, it never truly fades away.
To the families of those who died in the sky above Lockerbie all those years ago, I know that the small step we take today cannot compensate for the sorrow you feel to this day. But I hope that you will find some measure of solace in knowing that we in the United States Government, on behalf of the American people and in partnership with our counterparts in Scotland, have never relented, and will never relent, in the pursuit of justice for you and your loved ones.
Thank you.
Distractions!! Don’t get me wrong I am glad this happened…but it’s a distraction for bagpipes to get in front of the press and undermine PDJT!!!
You took the words out of my mouth. I saw this traitorous piece of filth on Daily Mail announcing he was refusing the president’s orders to secure the VOTING machines, which a LAW ENFORCEMENT person should WANT and that he’s not going to put a special counsel in place.
2 more days before we empty out this trash.
SO the AG can REFUSE an order from the president regarding the securing of VOTING MACHINES! My only question is where is God? They couldn’t get away with what they are doing without Him allowing it. Proverbs 16:4-We know the Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil
Found in the bin… 🙁
It’s more than distractions. It’s cover up.
And Hillary should still face the music for what was done TO Muammar Ghaddafi – he had become an ally to the United States of America and therefore should have been helped, not have done what has done –
are they going to go back now and retrace their steps on the LIndgbergh Baby case?
I have cat allergies or I would have my very own Suspicious Cat!
Lindbergh Baby
(I was mad, typing)
The man is a joke.
He’s a traitor who excused a coup attempt and who enabled the China compromised Biden.
Barr is a criminal.
Well it is good that he is focused on the right things and vetting out crimes that are relevant today!
This useless P.O.S. also today said there’s no need for a special counsel to investigate either election fraud or Hunter Biden.
Bill Barr is dead to me now.
Our President finished him off. Now the whole world knows why. Adios, Bagpipes.
Wow, it took 32 years to come up with this one. No wonder he was in no hurry on the election or investigating Biden…he still has 30 years before he has to do something!
You beat me to it!
Our country is literally falling apart and Barr announces charges relating to a crime committed 32 years ago? Unbelievable. Heaven help us.
Why now?
It’s a taunt. A slap in the face. A “look at me run out the clock.” He’ll be on a Bush infested corporate board raking in trillions to sell us out to the CCP after a paid holiday.
Not only do they reward the traitors, but they do so visibly as advertisement. “Sell out your country, the water’s fine boys.”
It’s good to see the DOJ has its priorities straight. A 32 year old cold case versus Obama Admin spying on a presidential opponent AND massive Democrat voter fraud during a presidential election.
It’s so clear that we have nothing but Bush plants and CCP bribed hacks and other globalist filth in every branch.
They’re all Chinolist.
32 years of delayed justice doesn’t distract from zero justice from this so called AG.
Which, as he pointed out, happened before more than 1/3 of current U.S. citizens were born.
“Heckuva job, Billy.”
The attempted coup against an American President, not so much.
However, Barr said as his final act as AG, he is bringing charges against John Wilkes Boothe, not as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, but for entering Ford Theater during a performance without a paid ticket…
I thought it was for not wearing a mask in a crowded theater?
Oh crap…that was funny!
LOVE^^^^
Barr….joins the line of major DOJ failures to the USA…Holder, Lynch, Sessions, Bagpipes & Rosen…3 of the 5 are on Trump…bad HR Dpt….It cost us majorly..
The problems is an Attorney General has to get Senate Confirmation. Were Trump to have nominated a Giuliani or Sydney Powell for the post they would have gotten the Kavanaugh treatment if not worse. Control over the DoJ is just as if not more important to the Swamp than the Scotus. Court decisions take time. Putting people in handcuffs doesn’t.
Which explains why Mitch McConnell refused to put the Senate into a recess, not allowing the President to make a recess appointment for DOJ or any other office in his administration. Shows the deep state knew that the President would have indeed put in a pit-bull to clean house. McConnell & Schumer couldn’t let that happen.
What do you think the chances are that he will allow a recess with Biden/Harris in office? Probably won’t even bat an eyelash as they all head for the airport to go home on a holiday break.
Doug43,
Your comment made me wonder about something I hadn’t thought of . Why are *they* allowed to fly from state to state without going into Quarantine ??? ?
I know , I know ,, Dumb Question ?
Not a dumb question at all. Maybe the answer is because they know it’s a casedemic and not a pandemic and there’s no real reason to be afraid?
Their Chinese masters were calling the shots. McConnell & Co did exactly as they were directed by their paymasters.
Trump should have tried, at least he could have smeared Turkey Neck a little.
The President never stopped trying to work productively with the Turkey Neck. We know which one of those two men is the hero, and which one should be terrified to meet his Maker.
I have often criticized President Trump for his terrible hiring choices, but I have to ask – did he have any decent candidates, at least any that he wasn’t told were bad to poison the well the way Obama tried to do with Flynn?
PDJT was never given a chance to get a decent candidate.
And yes he probably had quite a good list. Starting with the best: Rudy wanted AG from the beginning – I never understood why he didn’t get it – but now I do.
Yep. This is why N.O.T.H.I.N.G. ever gets done.
32 years. LOL. These people are one big fat joke.
Staging a press conference to announce this charge is bizarre. But then so is dispatching a crack team of FBI agents to investigate a fake noose.
I am losing count, but that may be the second noteworthy indictment of his tenure
30+ years. Is that how long Durham will take?
I’m glad to see Mr. Barr has been busy with something. I was beginning to wonder if he has been doing anything at all.
Our DOJ always doing investigations that protect other countries. Our country with an active coup against a sitting President and rampant voter fraud – not so much!
Can I just thank Sundance for the fact this thread and site aren’t overrun with CCP Soros trolls? Everyone else needs to learn a lesson from Sundance. I can’t even gently let a Leftist know what the Conservative position and reason why is on their sites. Yet they’re all over the internet derailing and hijacking our comments.
There is nothing good about the satanic Left or RINOs like Barr who end up taking us the same place.
At least he acknowledged it happened
Year 2060…
Bill Barr’s grandson AG “So and So” announces they’ve found evidence suggesting the 2020 Presidential election may have been fraudulent
He was immediately reprimanded by the United States Supreme Command Office in China, where his communist superiors advised him to rewrite his findings to fit the CCP narrative
The “Media” did not report on it, preferring to wait on instructions from the Main Media Office in China
Barr who?
Another deadbeat politician… blind also… might as well throw in deaf.
The dumb part goes without saying…
Barr is not dumb.
That was never the problem.
Barr is bought.
Because PDJT supported him, I waited to see, and gave him every chance.
Over the last month I have seen, for good and all. And PDJT has also made it as plain as he could, at the last, given all the forces he has to juggle right now.
Barr Plays The “Bag-Pipe” The “Wood-Winds” He Blow’s The “Sack’s” And Is Proficient On The “Trom-Boner”, “Skin-Flute” And The “Human-Organ”.. What A POS…
Well, I’m glad they got the bombmaker although I find it ridiculous that it not only took 32 years but that we’re going see if Libya allows prosecution.
32 years. The people on that plane and on the ground, and their families, deserved much better than this.
They Probably Had This Distraction On Ice For Years! They Keep Stuff Like This In Their “Hip-Pocket” Until Times Such As This… Barr Is A Disgrace To A.G’s And Middle-Aged “Obese” Men….
What a useless putts.
Putz!
Figured that particular bomber would have already died from old age… Seriously? Why is this even news? I would be embarrassed to announce this, what was that, fifty years ago?
Hard to believe how many people fell for 3-card-monty-bill. It was nauseating constantly reading what a good guy he is and how it takes time to prosecute d.c. hacks. B.S.
Sundance, mahalo for all the info and hard azz work.
So, the FBI has been investigasting a 30 year old event because they had much time on their hands.
You would have though Barr would have given some thought to how his last two years of public service will be perceived in the near future.
There’s a video out, just last week , from a judge who explains it. These people are afraid of the Cancel Culture. They don’t want to be called poopyhead on Twitter. They have no idea what they are doing to themselves.
They will never pay on earth. It is God’s judgment or nothing. And the thing is, we aren’t supposed to want people to go to Hell, at least that is my understanding, so what do we do. How do we get God to hear our prayers for truth to prevail in the United States?
Thats not the explanation, or it’s only a very small part of it.
Trillions at stake.
The Lockerbie bombing was an attack on America, one of many, but the horror and loss of life senseless and sickening. Provided nothing of value to the Libyans and devastated so many. Seems to me that we are in the midst of an enormous crises the likes of which Qadaffi would have loved to pull off. Barr is making a mockery out of this. I find it disrespectful to those who lost their lives and their families for Barr to care so little about the loss of our country while pretending to care about this.
It makes me want to vomit.
This hits me hard! As a former Flight Attendant for Pan Am, I lost fellow crew members on that fateful day. Several Books have been written about this “incident” as they call it in Airline Terms. Why dredge this up now? Shame!
The Chinese must have gotten to him too. He is compromised. No reasonable sane person can utter the shit coming out of his mouth.
December 23, 2020 cannot come soon enough.
Good Riddance.
Barr has nothing better to do at the department of Just-Us. Guess it’s been a slow year for crime.
Barr is helping to kill the Republic and The Constitution. A killer going after a killer. Saw this movie
This is as slow and late as watching fat slob Barr trying to run to catch a bus.
This needed to happen, especially for everyone affected by this tragedy.
Glad he did the right thing by at least a few Americans. The rest of us, not so much.
May God bless and continue to comfort those families, but it was criminal of Barr to use the case as cover for his cover-up of the assault on our Republic – by his own buddies.
Today’s announcement has nothing to do with Lockerbie. It’s a disgrace to use this as cover.
Maybe in 30-some years the Department of Just-us will make a similar breakthrough on the stealing of the Presidency we just witnessed… call it “2020 hindsight”!
But seriously, without besmirching the good work done on the heinous bombing, you have to wonder at how Barr could seriously not see the irony of going out on making progress on a 30 year old crime?!
He has a few days left to collar that D B Cooper guy….just aybe
(maybe)
Next thing you know Barr will announce they have busted more Amish milk sellers and Ginseng Root pirates
HEADLINE: December 21, 2052. The DOJ announces they have started an investigation into the 2020 presidential election and voter fraud. Details to follow in 2082.
First things, first.
The Cleveland v Harrison Presidential campaign of 1888.
What a useless tool Bill Barr has proven to be.
Let’s not deal with the fraud and the terrorists in the FBI and the CIA and holding government positions, let’s deal with something that’s irrelevant at this point.
This guy doesn’t deserve to breathe any of the air that God has given us.
Unfortunately, Bill Barr has been a VERY useful tool to the deep state globalists. He has been the best clean up man they foisted on Donald Trump and how did this happen over and over again to President Trump? I have my own thoughts regarding those around the president but that is just speculation on my part.
We know how. McConnell.
The British Crown ordered the Lockerbie bombing. Barr is delivering Trump’s coded threat to the Queen to call off her coup and her well-placed Knight of Malta, John Roberts.
Huh?
so this is why Bill Barr came back?
To nail someone he missed the first time around as AG?
Does this mean we’ll have to wait 32 yrs for indictments of election fraud?
Smoke and mirrors smoke and mirrors .. …
Look we are working to keep you safe…
Smoke and mirrors..
Smoke and mirrors..
Look at the radical Muslims not the communist Chinese..
Smoke and mirrors..
Just took it out of the back pocket.. for just this occasion.. 20 years.. but then Hunter has 19 more years to go,,
BS
MAGA
Wow ! How gutsy! Jerk.
Well, I guess better late than never.
He gets the last laugh we have to continue to send him checks.
Our path to decline is tended by not only arrogant ideologies like Obama and Comey, but simple minded fools like Sessions and Barr.
Hey, thanks, AG, we will all sleep better tonight.
You, sir, are an enemy of America. You can’t leave the “Justice” Dept soon enough!!
Mueller was in charge of the investigation. There were 43 enlisted men on that flight and I believe many flag officers whom were allied against the NWO machinations. The Libyan they pinned it on probably did not do it and some of the victims relatives refused to believe that the man they pinned it on did it. This could be the busting open of the original crime which appeared to be a killshot on the flag officer. I also recall rumors of a load of Treasury bills was on the plane.
https://www.whale.to/b/lockerbie_h.html ‘Lockerbie was a false flag operation to hide rogue CIA involvement in heroin trafficking out of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, during the Terry Anderson hostage crisis. A joint team of CIA, FBI and Defense Intelligence investigators were flying on Pan Am 103 that day, heading for Washington to expose the heroin ring, when the plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.
This citizen journalist researched the case in depth and says CIA Barr was in on the Lockerbie coverup and the framing of Libya https://inteltoday.org/2018/12/07/russiagate-william-barr-to-be-next-us-attorney-general/ There is no doubt in my mind that PT/35(b) is a forgery that was planted among the debris of Pan Am 103 to implicate Libya and to steer the investigation away from the original suspects. Perhaps, Barr could explain how the white Toshiba radio — alleged to have contained the bomb that destroy PA 103 — became a black one? And William Barr knew that when he read the indictment against two Libyan citizens on November 14 1991.(CIA Barr was covering for the CIA role in Lockerbie, which done to kill agents on board with evidence of CIA drug running).
British Crown Drug running, but yes.
It’s very easy to see what this is. His last cover up operation as AG. Swamp guardians gonna swamp guardian.
The links of this bombing to US intelligence are extensive and well documented.
Oh spare me the horse manure … by accident another party to the bombing is held … by the current thugs ruling part of Libya … and now the weasels of DOJ will try to get this person and wrap themselves in glory … but it’s nothing compared to the glory of the FBI conducting a pre-dawn raid at the home of a 67 year old man, Roger Stone, as though he were a mafia kingpin charged with dozens of murders, when he was just a supporter of PDJT guilty of minor, mostly process crimes.
There’s so much crap at the DOJ that it’s oozing out of the windows.
Yea, white noise he’s desperate for some kind of legacy other than apathy and incompetence. It’s okay to steal an election and destroy democracy thou.
Dateline December 21, 2052:
The Department of Justice has just announced new charges against former CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey for illegal activities directed against the Trump Campaign and Trump Administration beginning on or about November, 2015. These charges are issued posthumously as the defendants are deceased. Please be assured that the United States Government has never relented in the pursuit of justice on behalf of the American people.