US prosecutors are allegedly planning to unseal charges against a suspect involved in the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing after locating the top-bomb maker for the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Prosecutors claim that the suspect, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, assembled the device that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland. The recent developments reopen one of the US’s longest terrorism investigations.
The Justice Department is expected to release a criminal complaint against Masud, who is currently held by Libyan authorities. The Justice Department will seek his extradition to be tried in a US federal court. The bombing killed 190 Americans just before Christmas in 1988, with the 32nd anniversary of the attack coming up in May. The bombing pushed US lawmakers to determine that Libya was a state sponsor of terrorism, forcing the government to pay over $1 billion in reparations to the families of the victims.
Read More: U.S. Said to Be Near Charges for Another Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Plane Crash