A man who was accused of making a bomb that destroyed a London-bound plane has been taken into custody in the US.
Scottish authorities revealed Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, thought to be the "third conspirator" in the fatal crash of Pan Am flight 103, has been arrested 34 years after the devastating attack.
The 1988 bombing, which saw the plane infamously downed in Lockerbie, is the deadliest terrorist attack the UK has ever seen, with all 259 passengers and a number of crew killed in the blast.
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A further 11 people were killed by the crash, which destroyed their homes - bringing the total number of deaths up to 270.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said of the arrest: "The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi (‘Mas’ud’ or ‘Masoud’) is in US custody.
"Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK Government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with al-Megrahi to justice."
Mas’ud was originally charged by the US Attorney General William Barr with being the third person involved in the terrorist attack back in 2020, while he was thought to be in custody in Libya.
Barr said: "Let there be no mistake, no amount of time or distance will stop the US and our Scottish partners from pursuing justice in this case."
Mas’ud was reportedly kidnapped by a militia group in Libya last year, with authorities hoping this would lead to his eventual arrest.
Another man, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was convicted in 2001 of bombing the plane after he stood trial in a Scottish court, convened in the Netherlands.
So far he is the only person to have been convicted of causing the bombing.
Megrahi was jailed for life but was released by the Scottish Government in 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer.
He died in Libya in 2012.
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Megrahi never admitted to the crime and always maintained his claim that he was innocent, launching two appeals in a bid for an early release.
One of the bids was unsuccessful and the other was abandoned.
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