Lockerbie bombing trial postponed over new evidence
The US trial of a man accused of building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 has been delayed days before jury selection was to begin, after prosecutors disclosed newly discovered evidence.
The trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Kheir Al-Marimi, accused in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, has been postponed shortly before it was due to start in Washington DC.
Jury selection had been scheduled for August 26, 2026. Days earlier, US government lawyers presented newly discovered evidence to the defense team, prompting a request for more time to review it. US District Judge Dabney Friedrich granted the postponement on August 24, 2026, without disclosing what the evidence concerns.
Al-Marimi's defense lawyers said they have constitutional and ethical obligations to investigate the new material before proceeding. A hearing has been set for September 1, 2026, to determine the status of the case going forward.
Al-Marimi, described by prosecutors as a Libyan and Tunisian national, faces two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death. Prosecutors allege he built the bomb that brought down the Boeing aircraft over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, roughly 38 minutes after it left London-Heathrow bound for New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. The explosion happened at 31,000 feet. It killed all 259 people aboard along with 11 residents on the ground, for a total of 270 victims spanning numerous nationalities, including American, British, French and Indian citizens.
The US Department of Justice has previously said Al-Marimi worked for Libyan intelligence in various roles. No new trial date has yet been announced.
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- aerotime.aeroLockerbie bombing trial delayed over ‘newly discovered evidence’