The trial of Abu Ajila Masoud, the Libyan man accused of making the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, has been postponed until April 2026. The decision was made jointly by the prosecution and defence, citing the defendant’s health and the case’s complex international nature.
Masoud, who is in his early seventies and holds dual Libyan-Tunisian citizenship, was expected to appear before a US jury in Washington last month. However, the proceedings were delayed due to his non-life-threatening medical condition and the intricate legal and evidentiary issues surrounding the case.
Masoud has pleaded not guilty to charges of constructing the explosive device that caused the death of 270 people, including 259 on board and 11 residents of Lockerbie in Scotland. The incident remains the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history.
US prosecutors allege that Masoud, while jailed in Libya in 2012, confessed to working for Libyan intelligence and admitted to assembling the bomb. He also allegedly named two accomplices: Abdelbasset Al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah. Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and released in 2009 on compassionate grounds before dying in 2012. Fhimah was acquitted.
Both US and Scottish prosecutors identified Masoud as a suspect in 2015, following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. He was formally charged in 2020 and taken into US custody in 2022 after being seized from his home by an armed Libyan militia.
Lawyers have requested early deadlines for legal motions, including efforts to suppress Masud’s alleged confession. The US District Court for the District of Columbia acknowledged that the pre-trial schedule would be non-standard due to the international scope of the case.
Masoud remains in US custody pending trial.
