A US federal judge has postponed the trial of a man charged over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. US District Judge Dabney Friedrich cited the discovery of new evidence that defence lawyers want to examine as the reason for postponing the trial on Monday, August 24.
Jury selection delayed
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Wednesday for Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi in Washington, DC. His trial is the first in the US for the December 21, 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people.
Judge Friedrich's order did not specify the nature of the newly discovered evidence. Al-Marimi's lawyers say prosecutors disclosed the new evidence to them on Saturday and that their "constitutional and ethical obligations require the defence to investigate this development."
Next steps in the case
The judge scheduled a September 1 hearing in Washington to discuss the status of the case.
Al-Marimi is charged in the US with making the bomb that brought down the plane 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway. The flight was en route to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York when a bomb in the plane's forward cargo area exploded 38 minutes after take-off from London Heathrow Airport.
Impact of the bombing
The blast killed all 259 passengers and crew members and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie. Citizens of 21 countries were killed, including 190 Americans and 43 from the UK.
Prosecutors allege Al-Marimi and others carried out the bombing at the direction of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and killed during a 2011 civil war. Al-Marimi, now in his mid-70s, is charged with two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
