Judge postpones U.S. trial for man accused in deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing
A federal judge has postponed a trial in the U.S. for a Libyan man charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, citing the discovery of new evidence.
Updated on: August 24, 2026 / 8:08 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi is charged in the U.S. with making the bomb that downed the airplane, killing 270 people , most of them Americans. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Wednesday for his federal trial in Washington, D.C. — the first trial in the U.S. for the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich's order didn't specify the nature of the newly discovered evidence.
Al-Marimi's lawyers say prosecutors disclosed the new evidence to them on Saturday and added that their "constitutional and ethical obligations require the defense to investigate this development." Defense attorney Laura Koenig, an assistant federal public defender, declined to elaborate in response to an Associated Press inquiry.
The judge scheduled a Sept. 1 hearing in Washington to discuss the status of the case. Friedrich's brief order cited the complex nature of the case, the newly discovered evidence and "the need for the defense to determine how best to defend this case" as reasons to postpone the trial.