Heads of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees of the Libyan Parliament, Talal al-Mihoub and Youssef al-Aqouri, has called for an urgent investigation into the extradition of the Libyan national, Abu Agila Masud, to the United States, over allegation on his connection to the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.
In a joint statement, al-Mihoub and al-Aqouri considered the extradition of Masud a blatant violation of national sovereignty and an infringement of the rights of the Libyan citizen.
They stressed the Parliament’s refusal to reopen the file of the Lockerbie case, stressing that the case file had been completely closed politically and legally, according to the text of the agreement signed between the United States and Libya in 2003.
Al-Mihoub and Al-Aqouri affirmed that extradition is not legally permissible, given that there is no cooperation agreement in this regard with the United States, and there is no ruling issued in this regard, stressing that Libyan sovereignty requires that the accused be tried before the Libyan judiciary.
The two deputies denounced in the strongest terms the extradition of Masud, as this is a grave legal and human rights violation that affects the dignity of the Libyan citizen and the country’s sovereignty.
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.”