New Libyan intelligence documents could spark Lockerbie bombing retrial

Scottish detectives are reviewing newly surfaced documents, allegedly from Libya’s intelligence service, that could shed fresh light on the 1988 Lockerbie bombing — which killed 270 people aboard Pan Am Flight 103 — and a French airliner attack that claimed 170 lives ten months later, according to the BBC.

"I'm very hopeful that it can be used and will lead to at least one more conviction,” said Richard Marquise, a former FBI agent who co-led the original Lockerbie investigation alongside Scottish authorities.

In 2003, Libya’s then-leader Muammar Gaddafi acknowledged responsibility for the bombing and agreed to pay over $1 billion in compensation to victims’ families, though he maintained he did not personally order the attack.

The only person ever convicted for the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with cancer. He died in Libya in 2012.

The newly uncovered documents were published in a book titled “The Murderer Who Must Be Saved”, authored by two French investigative journalists and a Libyan activist.

If verified, these documents are expected to play a pivotal role in the upcoming U.S. trial of Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi — known as Masud — who was arrested in December 2022 on allegations of building the bomb used in the Lockerbie attack. Masud has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for May 2025 in Washington.

The documents also revive scrutiny around Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah, Megrahi’s co-accused, who was acquitted by a Scottish court due to lack of evidence.

The new material reportedly links Fhimah — who worked as the Malta station manager for Libyan Airlines — more directly to the attack. If the evidence holds, it could trigger efforts to seek his extradition back to Scotland to face fresh charges.