USA: Federal officials told ABC News that the Libyan intelligence officer suspected of creating the explosive device has been taken into custody by the United States to face justice, nearly 34 years after 270 people—190 of them Americans—died in the mid-air bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
According to a Department of Justice spokesperson, Abu Agila Mas'ud will be prosecuted in the US for his alleged involvement in the deadliest terrorist attack to occur on British soil and one of the biggest to involve Americans.
The Boeing 747 was blown up about 38 minutes after it took off from London's Heathrow Airport on its way to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to charges brought by the United States against Mas'ud. The flight originally took off from Frankfurt, Germany, and was supposed to stop in New York before continuing on to Detroit.
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35 Syracuse University students who were returning home for the holidays after spending a semester studying abroad were among those who died.
The DOJ released a statement saying, "The United States has taken custody of alleged Pan Am Flight 103 bomb maker Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi."
The Alexandria Sheriff's Office reported that Mas'ud was booked into the Alexandria Adult Detention Center on Sunday night.
When Mas'ud will appear in court is not yet known. According to the DOJ, he is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in the District of Columbia U.S. District Court.
The suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi is in American custody, the Lockerbie bombing victims' families have been informed, according to a statement provided to ABC News by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scotland's public prosecution office.
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The statement made reference to Al Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent convicted in 2001 for his part in the Pan Am bombing. "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," the statement read.
Stephanie Bernstein, whose husband Michael was one of those killed in the bombing, claimed to have received a phone call from federal authorities early on Sunday morning informing her that Mas'ud was in American custody.
It is incredible. Bernstein told ABC News, "When I first heard about it, I thought I was dreaming. Without the highest levels of the government's commitment to bringing this person to justice, this would not have occurred.
Michael Bernstein worked for the Justice Department before he passed away, searching for former Nazis.
He regarded holding people accountable as being of the utmost importance, according to Bernstein.
She and other relatives of some of the dead said they had questioned whether Mas'ud would ever be prosecuted given the difficulties in Libya and the absence of an extradition agreement with the US.
"It wasn't obvious when or even if we could capture him. He admitted to the bombing, but only to a Libyan official "Bernstein stated that she intends to be present in court for Mas'ud's first court appearance.
The declaration comes two years after Mas'ud, who has spent a number of years in custody in Libya, was charged with two federal offences connected to the bombing.
Mas'ud is accused of detonating an explosive in a vehicle that caused death as well as destroying an aircraft that caused death in federal court.
According to a criminal affidavit submitted in the case, Mas'ud was employed by Libya's intelligence agency, the External Security Organization, from 1973 to 2011, primarily as a technical expert in the creation of explosive devices.
Mas'ud is accused of participating in a number of plots against the West and the United States, including the bombing of the LaBelle Discotheque in West Berlin, Germany, on April 5, 1986, which resulted in the deaths of two American service members and the injuries of 229 people, including 79 Americans.
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According to the criminal affidavit, Mas'ud allegedly built the Pan Am 103 bomb in the winter of 1988 in a hotel room on the island of Malta under the direction of two alleged Libyan intelligence agents, including Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. He allegedly concealed the device in a medium-sized Samsonite suitcase and set a timer to go off 11 hours later on December 21.