The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to identify more than 400 people affected by the Lockerbie bombing.
The broadcaster added that this comes before the trial of Libyan citizen Abu Ajila Masoud, who faces allegations of making the bomb used to blow up a Pan Am plane in 1988, noting that this brings the issue that caused tension in relations between Libya and the United States to the forefront again.
The BBC reported that the people identified as those affected by the incident that occurred more than two decades ago lost relatives in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing or suffered psychological injuries and belong to 10 countries.
The Broadcasting Corporation added that among the 417 people who participated in the FBI survey, there were 100 people from Scotland, 32 of them from Lockerbie itself, 244 from the United States, and 164 from the United Kingdom.
The British Broadcasting Corporation indicated that the US law enforcement agency attempted to track down the affected persons directly before Abu Ajila’s trial scheduled for May 2025, while the Federal Court in Washington is considering how to allow remote access to follow the trial from home in the case against Abu Ajila Masoud.
The British Broadcasting Corporation said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun identifying and interrogating people affected by the bombing, noting that most of the participants want to follow the trial from home via a web link or video application, and a smaller number are satisfied with audio access only, according to the Broadcasting Corporation.
The Lockerbie accident resulted in 270 victims, including 190 Americans, 43 from the United Kingdom, and the rest from 19 other countries.
Abu Ajila Masoud appeared before the American judiciary for the first time in December 2022 following his extradition to Washington, which caused angry reactions in Libya due to what his family called “kidnapping.” Abu Ajila pleaded not guilty in the first session.
Source: British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC.