The United States Department of Justice indicted Abu Agila Mohammad Massoud, suspected of participating in the
terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie
, in Scotland, which killed 270 people
in a federal court in Washington on Monday
.
The information was offered at a press conference by the attorney general, William Barr, who explained that the alleged person responsible for the construction of the explosive device - a former Libyan secret service agent - is in custody of that country, but that they will work with Scotland to negotiate extradition to the United States for trial.
Barr said he was "optimistic" that the Libyans will hand over Masud
.
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The terrorist act against Pan Am Flight 103, which
occurred 32 years ago, on December 21, 1988,
killed 270 people (243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 Lockerbie residents who were on solid ground).
Among the passengers were 35 Syracuse University students flying home for Christmas, in addition to other residents of New York and New Jersey.
For this same act,
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, also a former Libyan intelligence officer,
was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001
for planning the attack.
In 2009 he was released from a Scottish jail on humanitarian grounds due to cancer.
He died in Tripoli in 2012.
Destroyed houses in the Scottish town of Lockerbie after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. File photo, December 1988. AP
The charges were announced at the attorney general's last press conference, who insisted on his personal attachment to this case that took place during his first term at the Justice Department.
At the meeting with the media was Kara Weipz, sister of the victim of Flight 103, Richard Monetti, and president of a group for the families of those killed in the terrorist attack.
"We are justified, vindicated
, our patience and persistence have proven fruitful with this Monday's decision," Weipz said.
Floral tribute to the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing at the Garden of Remembrance near Lockerbie, Scotland.
The Pan Am flight exploded over Lockerbie less than an hour after taking off from London.
I was en route to New York City and then Detroit.
With the presentation of new charges, the Justice Department takes up
a case that deepened the tension between the United States and Libya
.
In 1992, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions for arms sales and air travel against Libya to urge Moammar Gadhafi, the country's leader, to hand over the two suspects.
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But the Libyan government refused to hand them over to the United States, skeptical that they could get a fair trial.
Libya eventually handed them over for prosecution before a panel of Scottish judges in a Dutch court.
With information from the Associated Press