A Libyan man accused of making the bomb which destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie 34 years ago is in United States custody, Scottish authorities announced.
The US announced charges against Abu Agila Masud two years ago, alleging that he played a key role in the bombing on 21 December, 1988.
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.
A source told The Libya Update Masud was interrogated by British officers, who arrived on British Airbus A400M plane, No. ZM402, at the Misrata Air Base on November 21.
Few days after the alleged interrogation, a US intelligence plane Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (No. 900528) arrived on November 25 in Misurata to extradite Masud, according to the source.
London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported last November that Tripoli-based prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, is accused of using Masud as a “scapegoat” for the United States, in return for “his government’s continuation in the power it has held for nearly two years.”
Citing an “official close to Dbeibeh”, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Masud’s case has always been a focus of American attention during meetings that US officials held with Dbeibeh during sporadic periods in recent times.
Following reports of his kidnapping, Libya’s House of Representative and High Council of State announced their rejection to any attempts to revive the Lockerbie case against Libya.