The FBI has initiated an international hunt for victims of the Lockerbie bombing, including individuals who suffered “emotional injuries”, ahead of a Libyan suspect’s trial in the United States. Abu Agila Masud, responsible for making the device that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish Borders town on December 21, 1988, has denied any wrongdoing. This search comes 35 years after the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 270 individuals.
The FBI is now seeking out individuals who are legally recognized as victims of the bombing and who want to monitor the trial remotely. The terrorist attack brought down Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew from London to New York, killing all 259 passengers and crew on board along with 11 Lockerbie residents who were killed by falling wreckage. Abu Agila Masud is due to face trial before a court in Washington next May.
Legislation passed by the US Congress to facilitate remote access to the trial defines a Lockerbie victim in two ways. One group includes “the spouse, legal guardian, parent, child, brother, sister, next of kin, or other relative of someone who was killed on Pan Am 103 or killed or harmed on the ground in Scotland or someone who possesses a relationship of a similar significance to someone who was killed or harmed in the attack.” Another comprises anyone “present at or near the scene in Lockerbie when the bombing occurred or immediately thereafter,” who suffered “direct or proximate harm such as physical or emotional injury as a result.”
Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on board the airplane, praised the decision to define victims of the bombing as individuals who witnessed the event and who suffered harm as a result. “Those affected by any disaster should never be restricted from access to the consequences of that disaster,” he said. “So I think it’s a good move that I entirely endorse.”
The FBI urged people who believe they fit the definition of a victim and seek remote access to the trial to participate in a survey that is now available. The Bureau is attempting to provide the court with information about the “widespread geographic location of our victim population and demonstrate how this may affect your personal and physical capabilities to access the trial proceedings in person,” the agency said
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