On the 36th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, the father of one victim has called on Sir Keir Starmer to release all documentation the UK government has on the atrocity. Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter was lost with 269 other lives on the flight, said that “we know a lot of material has been kept out of public view”. Two dramas and the trial of a Libyan suspect in the US will dominate public interest next year.
In May, Abu Agila Masud will stand accused in a federal court in Washington of making the bomb that brought down the plane. Masud is alleged to have acted with Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, the only person so far convicted over the bombing. The defence in the original trial argued that the bomb was the work of a Syrian-backed Palestinian group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, but this was rejected by the Scottish judges.
Dr Swire believes the attack was in retaliation for the shooting down of an Iranian airliner by an American warship earlier in 1988. The Libyan verdict rested on the belief that the bomb had been placed in an unaccompanied suitcase on a flight from Malta.
Scotland’s Crown Office has said that the trial verdict “has been the subject of intense scrutiny and has been upheld twice in the appeal court”. Dr Swire disputes forensic evidence relied upon in that trial and hopes that the upcoming Sky TV drama, in which Colin Firth will play him, will reignite interest in the case.
A statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that the bombing was “truly abhorrent” but did not comment on the request for release of documents
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