US trial over Lockerbie bombing suspect postponed amid new evidence

A criminal trial in the United States tied to the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been postponed. The defense team for the accused, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, requested time to review evidence that was only recently discovered.

No new trial date has been set. A hearing has instead been scheduled for September 1, at which further proceedings are expected to be addressed.

Mas'ud is accused of constructing the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, as the Boeing 747 flew over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard the aircraft were killed, along with eleven people on the ground. Mas'ud, now in his seventies, denies the allegations against him.

If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. The case has drawn continued attention as one of the longest-running investigations in aviation history, though this brief postponement concerns only procedural matters related to the newly surfaced material rather than the substance of the charges themselves.

Details of the new evidence, and how it might affect the defense's arguments, have not been disclosed publicly. Authorities have not indicated when a revised trial date might be announced.