Two Libyan suspects have been identified for allegedly taking part in the Lockerbie airplane bombing that took place in 1988. The bombing killed 270 people nearly 27 years ago.
Investigators from the United States and Scotland identified the suspects.
The bombing occurred on December 21, 1988, when Pam Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The flight was traveling from London to New York.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi of Libya was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001. He is currently the only person to have been convicted for the attack.
Now, two unidentified Libyans are also suspected of being involved in the attack.
A spokesperson from the Scottish Crown Office said, “The Lord Advocate has today issued an International Letter of Request to the Libyan Attorney General in Tripoli which identifies the two Libyans as suspects in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103. The Lord Advocate and the U.S. Attorney General are seeking the assistance of the Libyan judicial authorities for Scottish police officers and the FBI to interview the two named suspects in Tripoli.”
Former leader of Libya Muammar Gaddafi accepted his country’s responsibility for the attack in 2003. He offered financial compensation to family members of the victims. However, Gaddafi did not admit to ordering the attack personally.
Megrahi protested his innocence until his death in 2012. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Megrahi was transferred from a Scottish prison to serve his sentence in Libya. Many people believe that he was not responsible for the attack.
No new evidence has been found that would cast doubt upon Megrahi’s conviction. Meanwhile, authorities have been attempting to find accomplices to the bombings. Their progress has been slow because of violence in Libya.
The majority of the victims in the attack were Americans who were traveling back to New York to get home in time for Christmas. Eleven more people died on the ground as the airplane crashed. The bomb went off about 40 minutes after leaving the Heathrow Airport in London.
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