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He'd gone to the farm where the body of 21-year-old student Lynne Hartunian was found, along with many other passengers from the plane. A bomb aboard the plane detonated over the Scottish town of Lockerbie . This has always been regarded as a joint investigation with our FBI colleagues, said Stuart Cossar, the Police Scotland investigator. Katz, Samuel M. "Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists", 2002. The Rev John Mosey, who lost his teenage daughter Helga, says: I could hear little clicks and clunks when on the phone and Lockerbie documents disappeared from my computer. [58] Gauci was shown the same magazine during his testimony at al-Megrahi's trial and asked if he had identified the photograph in April 1999 as being the person who purchased the clothing; he was then asked if that person was in the court. Demands for such an inquiry emerged later, and became more insistent. Some wanted to know exactly where their loved ones body had been recovered. People who lived . Lockerbie bombing suspect in US custody - BBC News On the ground, 11 residents of Lockerbie were killed when the planes burning wings plunged into a quiet neighborhood just after dinner. Mum had been so worried about him dying alone in the cold of the Scottish countryside. His mother, Elizabeth . In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. May 2000: Lockerbie trial opens in Netherlands under Scottish Law. Other theories implicate Libya and Abu Nidal, and apartheid South Africa. The other 259 people aboard the aircraft died when the bomb blew apart the jetliner Dec. 21, 1988 or were killed by the 30,000-foot fall . [Oliver_ FBI's Oliver "Buck" Revell served as Advisor to PCAST]. Fhimah is cleared. The horror of Lockerbie: When Pan Am Flight 103 exploded The Libyan offer was that 40% of the money would be released when United Nations sanctions, suspended in 1999, were cancelled; another 40% when US trade sanctions were lifted; and the final 20% when the US State Department removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. [139] Interviewed by French newspaper Le Figaro on 7 December 2007, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said that the seven Libyans convicted for the Pan Am Flight 103 and the UTA Flight 772 bombings "are innocent". A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb ripped apart Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. And now, 26 years on, they have brought Franks grandchildren to a place that means so much to the family, laying roses at the spot where he was found and listening to Margaret and Hughs memories. Lockerbie bombing suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi appeared in federal court in Washington, DC, on Monday, December 12. However, he says, although there may be bias against older entrepreneurs, his experience is a benefit, not a . "[149], In March 2009, it was announced that US lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, received fees of $2million for the work it did from 2006 through 2008 helping the PA103 relatives obtain payment by Libya of the final $2million compensation (out of a total of $10million) that was due to each family. Some passengers may have remained alive briefly after impact; a pathologist's report concluded that at least two of these passengers might have survived if they had been found soon enough.[26][19][27]. Lockerbie farmer who found 98 bodies on her farm - Mirror Online Also aboard was Irish Olympic sailor Peter Dix[29] and rock musician Paul Jeffreys and his wife. [57] An official report, providing information not made available to the defence during the original trial, stated that on 19 April 1999, four days before identifying al-Megrahi for the first time, Gauci had seen a picture of al-Megrahi in a magazine that connected him to the bombing, a fact that could have distorted his judgement. 270 people were killed, including 11 people in the town. I actually saw a wrought iron gate melting. [20] The property was completely destroyed and its two occupants were killed. Iran's involvement is alleged, either in association with a Palestine militant group, or in loading the bomb while the plane was at Heathrow. [23] The explosion in the aircraft hold was magnified by the uncontrolled decompression of the fuselage - a large difference in pressure between the aircraft's interior and exterior. Megrahi's lawyers applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) on 23 September 2003 to have his case referred back to the Court of Criminal Appeal for a fresh appeal against conviction. And its not just for the 35 they lost. Ruined houses in the town of Lockerbie after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York in 1988. . On Saturday, accompanied by 70 supporters, they cycled from Lockerbie to Edinburgh Castle. Updates? [120] On 1 November 2009, it was reported that Gordon Brown had ruled out a public inquiry into Lockerbie, saying in response to Dr Swire's letter: "I understand your desire to understand the events surrounding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 but I do not think it would be appropriate for the UK government to open an inquiry of this sort." Two of Pan Am's subsidiaries, Alert Management Inc., which handles Pan Am's security at foreign airports, and Pan American World Services, were also found guilty. As pieces of the aircraft hit the ground, some exploded. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [1/5] A December 23, 1988 file photo shows Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie, Scotland . Some 300 tons of wreckage were scattered over an area measuring 845 square miles, making the disaster also a crime scene of massive proportions. He met the families, and the compassion shown to them by the Scottish police made a deep impression on him. The next stage will see the group cycling 600 miles from the Lockerbie memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to Syracuse University, which lost 35 students in the bombing. The unaccompanied bag is believed to have been transferred to a Pan Am flight to London and then to Flight 103. Documania. All 259 people on board were killed, as well as 11 people in the town of . But after Libya was sanctioned by the United Nations for initially refusing to hand over the suspects for trial to face trial, it was agreed that the pair would be prosecuted at a neutral site in the Netherlands. The retired GP said: These two guys asked to meet me. A Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 in an international act of terrorism has been taken into U.S . Lockerbie is changed. The Connells had even asked to take dad in to the warm but were told they couldnt because evidence was still being collected. Instead, the judges announced on January 30 that the verdict would be read the next day at 11 a.m. Turman raced out of the courtroom. Pan Am Flight 103 destroyed midair over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 Some of the Lockerbie women volunteered to clean soldiers uniforms, and that thoughtfulness turned into something more. He also made a vow to the families that their sons and daughters will be remembered at Syracuse University so long as any of us shall live and so long as the university shall stand.. "[96] Megrahi died of prostate cancer in Libya on 20 May 2012. Mum started crying. Five radar echoes fanning out appeared, instead of one. Some of the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 after it crashed onto the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. Pan Am Flight 103 . [126] Following the Lockerbie verdict in 2001 and the appeal in 2002, attempts have been made to re-open the case amid allegations that Libya was framed. The perpetrators had apparently intended the plane to crash into the sea, destroying any traceable evidence, but its explosion over land left a trail of evidence.[56]. A stained glass window in Lockerbies Town Hall represents the 270 victims of Pan Am Flight 103 and the 21 countries they came from. On board the aircraft were citizens of 21 countries, including 190 Americans. A large, private space for families next to the courtroom became known as the safe haven. It was a lounge for the families to wait in before, during, and right after the trial, Turman said. I said, no, they havent stopped, they wont ever stop.. With so many first responders, including young soldiers, streaming in to assist with recovering the bodies and clearing the wreckage, there became an immediate need in Lockerbie for food. After a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US FBI, during which 15,000 witness statements were taken, indictments for murder were issued on 13 November 1991 against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. One of the British relatives, Martin Cadman, alleges that a member of President Bush's staff told him: "Your government and ours know exactly what happened but they are never going to tell. [166] The remains include the nose section of the Boeing 747, which was cut into several pieces to assist in removal from Tundergarth Hill. In 2008, the UK government "decided to 'do all it could' to help the Libyans get Al-Megrahi home and explained the legal procedure for compassionate release to the Libyans."[94]. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. terrorist bombing, over Lockerbie, Scotland, United Kingdom [1988]. These aviators lost their pensions, healthcare, savings, and livelihoods when . [154], Syracuse University holds a memorial week every year called "Remembrance Week" to commemorate its 35 lost students. In fact, many have vowed never to forget, to make sure the lessons of Lockerbie are not lost on future generations. Oliver Revell, the FBI's Executive Assistant Director, was assigned to advise and assist PCAST in their task.[130]. (5 minutes) LOCKERBIE, ScotlandThe sky rained fire on a chill December night here in 1988. . She didn't realize at first what was . The CIA and FBI said the suspects, employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, were also Libyan intelligence agents. So much of what we ended up doing for 9/11 families and others has come from lessons learned from the Pan Am 103 families, she said. [citation needed], Prominent among the passenger victims was the 50-year-old UN Commissioner for Namibia (then South West Africa), Bernt Carlsson, who would have attended the signing ceremony of the New York Accords at the UN headquarters the following day. Air traffic control tried to make contact with the flight, with no response. Syracuse Universitys Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: 30 Years Later, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: David Jardine, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: George Stobbs, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Stuart Cossar, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Harry Bell, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Dick Marquise, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Kathryn Turman, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Tom McCullough, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: The 'Laundry Ladies', Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Alex Smith, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Graeme Galloway, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Katie Berrell, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Kara Weipz, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Mary Kay Stratis, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Carole Johnson, Remembering Pan Am Flight 103: Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. All were originally hired by Pan Am and seniority ranged from 9 months to 28 years. Before they submitted their report, the PCAST members met a group of British PA103 relatives at the US embassy in London on 12 February 1990. Taylor claimed that the PA 103 bomb could have been planted then.[72]. But when the plane dropped out of the sky that night, no one was certain what had happened. Five weeks before this warning, Jibril's right-hand man, Haffez Dalkamoni, had been arrested in Frankfurt with a known bomb-maker, Marwen Khreesat. The Remembrance program, which includes the universitys extensive library collection of material related to the bombing and its aftermath, has become a central part of the schools identity, said Kara Weipz, a Syracuse graduate whose brother, Richard Monetti, was killed on Pan Am Flight 103. Megrahi's appeal against his conviction was refused on 14 March 2002, and his application to the European Court of Human Rights was declared inadmissible in July 2003. As of 2008, the remaining wreckage of the aircraft was stored about a mile from Tattershall, Lincolnshire, at Roger Windley's scrapyard (53719.35N 01258.09W / 53.1220417N 0.2161361W / 53.1220417; -0.2161361 (Windley's Scrapyard)), pending the conclusion of the American victims' civil case and further legal proceedings. Al-Megrahi later sent to jail in Glasgow. Gaddafi later retracted Ghanem's comments, under pressure from Washington and London. The level of collaboration at the trial between the FBI, Department of Justice, and other federal law enforcement agencies, along with Scottish partnerswho had already set a remarkable example of compassion toward victims in the aftermath of the bombingforged a connection between family members, investigators, and victim advocates that exists to this day. Libya halted extradition of Gaddafi aide to US: report In 2003, Gaddafi accepted Libya's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for the attack. 2 Passengers On Flight 103 Might Have Survived, Pathologist Says The wreckage from Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland December 21, 1988. The cargo area has been the site of explosives in past bombings, including that of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The night of the disaster, Smith was at home with his father in Sherwood Crescent, settled in for what was supposed to be a quiet evening. Two hundred and fifty-nine people on board the New York-bound Boeing . Steven Flannigan: Orphan of Lockerbie bombing. - Mamamia Items of baby clothing, which were subsequently proven to have been made in Malta, were thought to have come from the same suitcase. We update each other on what both organizations are doing, we have regular face-to-face meetings, whether in the U.S. or Scotland, and we keep in contact., If I had a message to tell the families and people around the world, Cossar added, it is that this is very much a live investigation, and we are hopeful that at some point in the future we will have potentially another trial and possibly another conviction.. [54] The Iranian foreign ministry swiftly denied any involvement. Although it is sadly symbolic that the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 occurred on that day, it is perhaps more meaningful to consider that the responses to the tragedythe kindnesses shown, the friendships made, the positive changes to aviation security, and law enforcements care for victimscontinue to cast a very bright light into the world all these years later. My task was to figure out how to support 270 families through a trial in another country, she said. Pan Am Flight 103 Crash Documentary - Lockerbie Disaster Written to Lord Fraser of Carmyllie Scotlands senior law officer it copied in PM Margaret Thatcher and raised concerns at families joining together to seek the truth. There was not an emergency plan as such at the time, said Stuart Cossar, a Police Scotland detective inspector who until his recent retirement was the deputy senior investigating officer for the ongoing investigation. Victoria Cummock's husband was among the 259 passengers who died after a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988, just north of the England-Scotland border. We will never ever forget what they did for our father.. [107] The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was accused of retaliating for these sinkings by ordering the April 1986 bombing of La Belle, a West Berlin nightclub frequented by US military personnel, killing three people and injuring 230. All 259 passengers and crew members were killed. [71] Because three judges and one alternate judge had presided over the trial, five judges were required to preside over the Court of Criminal Appeal: Lord Cullen, Lord Justice-General, Lord Kirkwood, Lord Osborne, Lord Macfadyen, and Lord Nimmo Smith. I hope that the contents of this letter underline some of the reasons as to why I cannot possibly accept that any inquiry should be limited to Scotland, and I apologise if my previous personal letter of 24 August misled you over the main focus that the inquiry will need to address.