Libyan political analyst Hafed Al-Ghwell considered the extradition of intelligence official Abu Agila Masud to the United States a “high treason”.
“The extradition of Masud in a twisted, illegal and immoral way by Dbeibeh (Libyan outgoing Prime Minister) and Al-Mangoush (Dbeibeh government’s Foreign Minister) will open the doors of legal and political accountability for them both,” said Al-Ghwell, the senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of Johns Hopkins University.
“The extradition of a Libyan citizen to a foreign country may amount to high treason,” he stressed.
Al-Ghwell concluded: “I confirm that if they think the United States will protect them because of this handover, then they are delusional.”
Abu Agila Masud, a Libyan intelligence official, will face federal charges in Washington over alleged involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, the U.S. Justice Department said Sunday.
This comes after Scottish authorities announced Sunday that Masud had arrived in U.S. custody.
Last month it was reported that Masud had been kidnapped by a militia group in Libya, leading to speculation that he was going to be handed over to the American authorities to stand trial.
Eighty eight members of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) have called on the presidency to hold an emergency session regarding the extradition of the intelligence official Abu-Agila Masud to U.S.A.
“Handing over Masud and reopening Lockerbie file was a high treason,” said a statement by the members.
“We called on the Public Prosecutor to investigate, and local and international measures must be taken to return Masud safe to his family,” it added.
A campaigner for the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has said the man accused of making the explosives should be tried in a court determined by the UN.
But Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town which claimed the lives of 270 people, said that Masud should not be tried in the US or Scotland, with doubts abounding over his role in the atrocity.
“There are so many loose ends that hang from this dreadful case, largely emanating from America, that I think we should remember what (former president of South Africa Nelson) Mandela said to the world and to us then, and seek a court that is free of being beholden to any nation directly involved in the atrocity itself,” Swire told BBC Radio Scotland.
“I think (the trial) should not take place in America. I think, in view of what we now know about how Scotland handled the case, it should not take place in Scotland.
“What we’ve always been after amongst the British relatives is the truth and not a fabrication that might seem to be replacing the truth.”