US judge eyes January trial date for Libyan man charged in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103

WASHINGTON (AP) — A trial in the U.S. for a former Libyan intelligence official charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland is on track to start in January after a delay caused by the discovery of new evidence in the decades-old case.

A federal judge presiding over the case against Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi is eyeing Jan. 19 for the start of jury selection in Washington, D.C.

Al-Marimi’s trial had been scheduled to start on Aug. 26, but U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich postponed it to give defense attorneys more time to examine the newly discovered evidence. The judge said she wants to check on the availability of prospective jurors before locking in a new trial date.

Court filings haven’t specified the nature of the new evidence; the judge and attorneys took pains not to disclose any details during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday.

Flight 103 was 31,000 feet (9.45 kilometers) over Lockerbie, Scotland, when a bomb in the New York-bound plane’s forward cargo area exploded 38 minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport on Dec. 21, 1988. The blast killed all 259 passengers and crew members and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.

Al-Marimi is charged with making the bomb that downed the airplane. Prosecutors allege he and others carried out the bombing at the direction of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was ousted and killed during a 2011 civil war.

Al-Marimi, now in his mid-70s, is charged with two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.

Laura Koenig, one of Al-Marimi’s attorneys, said the defense will need to question new witnesses and present additional expert testimony in response to the new evidence.

The trial is expected to last roughly two months.