A former Libyan intelligence agent accused of preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 has been arrested by the United States after being kidnapped from his home by a notorious the war and then detained by armed militias for two weeks, the Guardian was told.
Mohammed Abouagela Masud appeared briefly in court in Washington DC on Monday, accused of setting the timer for the bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, which killed 270 people in the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil .
The US Department of Justice announced it had custody of Masud over the weekend, but did not provide details on how he had arrived in the US.
Officials with knowledge of the case in Libya told the Guardian that Masud was captured at his home in the capital’s Abu Salem neighborhood by forces loyal to Abdel Ghani al-Kikili, known as “Gheniwa,” who commands the Support to the Stability (SSA) of the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli.
At the time, Masud’s family told local media that he had been abducted by gunmen and accused Tripoli authorities of keeping quiet about the abduction.
Masud was living in his home after being released from prison six months ago after serving a 10-year sentence for crimes committed under the former regime of Muammar Gadaffi.
The National, a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates, reported on Monday that Masud’s nephew said his uncle was detained by forces linked to Libya’s internationally recognized Ministry of Defense National Unity Government, GNU, on November 17, and then taken to Misrata, 200 km from the capital.
After his arrest, the suspected terrorist was taken to a military base in Misrata, where he was detained by one of the militias in the port city, officials said.
About a week later, those with Masud were contacted by his family who had been frantically trying to locate the missing man. They were assured that he would return home safely in a short time, officials said.
However, a week later, a “team of Americans” arrived in Misrata, took Masud on a private jet flight from the city’s airport to Malta, he told the Guardian.
Masud’s nephew, Abdulmenam Marimi, told Reuters on Monday that the family only learned he had moved to the United States when they saw it reported on the news.
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi Photo: AP
It has not been possible to confirm all the details described by the officials, who are well placed to know the case, but experts said the account was “highly plausible”.
Amnesty International has described al-Kikili as an abusive militia commander whose subordinates have a “well-documented record of crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations”. The SSA has the responsibility to arrest people in “national security” cases.
“For more than a decade, militias under his command terrorized the people of the Tripoli neighborhood of Abu Salim through enforced disappearances, torture, unlawful killings and other crimes under international law,” the organization said on 2022.
Al-Kikili denied Amnesty’s accusations, saying the SSA was “very willing to first apply Libyan law, which takes into account standards of justice and human rights, and works within the framework of the official institutions of the state”.
Libya is divided between two administrations and is the site of a struggle for influence between countries such as Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Western nations. The GNU is based in Tripoli.
It is unclear which militia Masud maintained in Misrata, but all have been repeatedly accused of multiple human rights abuses, including torture, illegal detentions, extrajudicial executions, forced displacement and exploitation of migrants.
Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, told reporters at Monday’s press conference at the White House: “Today is a good day because Masud will face justice for his alleged role in Lockerbie attack of 1988. I will say that this was done in a lawful manner according to established procedures. For more details on how it happened, I would refer you to the Department of Justice because they are in the best position to talk about it.”
The US Department of Justice did not initially respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Michael H Glasheen, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said: “The lawful arrest and arraignment of the alleged bomb maker … is the product of hard work and collaborations around the world.”
Scottish prosecutors, who have been closely involved in the investigation, have said the victims’ families were told Masud had been extradited to the United States.
The Pan Am flight from London Heathrow to New York’s John F Kennedy Airport exploded at 31,000 feet over Scotland on December 21, 1988. A total of 259 people were killed on board, while the fiery remains of the exploded plane killed another 11 on the ground in Lockerbie. .
According to the US affidavit, Masud was a key figure in the plot, along with Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifah Fhimah. Al-Megrahi was jailed for life for mass murder by three Scottish judges at a special court in the Netherlands in 2001. Fhimah was later acquitted at trial.
Investigators say Masud met the other two in Malta, where a senior Libyan intelligence official had ordered him to fly with a prepared suitcase. The other two men asked him to set the timer and the suitcase traveled via feeder flights to the hold of the Boeing 747.
Three months after the attack, the US alleges, Masud and Fhimah met with then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who “thanked them for fulfilling a great national duty”.
At the time, Gaddafi was at odds with the West, but under his leadership Libya later renounced terrorism and accepted responsibility for the 2003 plane bombing in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
After the fall of Gaddafi, Masud, an explosives expert in the country’s intelligence service, was arrested by Libyan law enforcement. In 2017, US officials received a copy of an interview with Masud conducted by Libyan authorities shortly after his arrest.
In that interview, US officials said, Masud admitted to building the bomb used in the Pan Am attack and working with the two men charged earlier to plant it on the plane. He said the operation had been ordered by Libyan intelligence and that Gaddafi had thanked him and others after the attack, according to an FBI affidavit.
In late 2020, the United States Department of Justice announced charges against Masud. With Masud in Libyan custody, however, his prosecution remained largely theoretical.
Additional reporting by David Smith in Washington