The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
US terror expert believes al-Megrahi was involved
In an exclusive interview marking the 30th anniversary of the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie bombing, Michael Alexander speaks to an American terrorism expert about the search for justice as her university marks the loss of 35 of its students in the attack.
Cruising at a height of 31,000 feet and packed with passengers embarking on the long journey home to America for Christmas, New York-bound Pan Am flight 103 was just 38 minutes into its flight from London Heathrow when, at 7.03pm on December 21 1988, a bomb exploded on board as the Boeing 747 flew over the Scottish borders.
As well as killing all 259 people on the aircraft, the falling debris, which hit the town of Lockerbie two minutes later, killed 11 people on the ground.
As bodies, luggage and debris tumbled six miles through the sky, the most devastating carnage in the town came as the wings containing thousands of gallons of aviation fuel exploded on impact – gouging out a huge crater in Sherwood Crescent and obliterating two houses and their inhabitants with it.
In 2001, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi , a Libyan intelligence agent, was found guilty of the bombing.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Scottish Government released him on compassionate grounds on August 20 2009 and he died on May 20 2012.
However, 30 years after the atrocity – the worst civil aviation disaster in British history – there’s still a sense of justice having not been done.
As commemorations to mark the 30th anniversary take place in Lockerbie, special events are also being held at New York state’s Syracuse University. Among the 179 Americans killed in the bombing were 35 of the university’s students who were returning home from a semester abroad in London and Florence, Italy.
It’s a chapter which is of particular interest to terrorism expert Dr Corri Zoli – Syracuse University’s director of research at the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, and a teaching professor of law.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, she revealed she was recently briefed by the FBI and Scottish prosecutors on the ongoing cases against alleged co-conspirators.
While she knows there was controversy around al-Megrahi’s prosecution, she thinks there was “good strong evidence” for him being involved – particularly as the late Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi admitted his country’s involvement in 2003.
She’s confident that, despite the complications of a trans-national investigation and liaising with “unstable” countries like Libya, further prosecutions will take place.
She said: “I had a briefing fairly recently from the FBI and the Scottish prosecutors on this.
“They talked about the various leads that they were pursuing in this long process.
“They actually were closer to finding information in part because there has been destabilisation in Libya.
“They were getting access to records they hadn’t been able to gain access to before. So I do think there will be that level of justice in terms of prosecuting people beyond those who have already been prosecuted.”
Dr Zoli, who has worked at Syracuse since 2009, said the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 was atypical in that hijackings were the most prevalent form of terrorism at the time and, some 13 years before 9/11, it was unusual in that it targeted Americans. It was also relatively rare for bombs to eliminate aircraft in flight.
However, the fact there were 35 American students on board from a single university was in itself “quite unprecedented”.
“I think the impact here (at Syracuse) has been we were on the direct frontline of a terrorist attack – again quite unusual for a university institution,” she said.
“I think it brought the community together. Folks were involved at every level. I know administrators called parents to reassure them. There were nearly 20,000 students at Syracuse University. I don’t think they called them all but they certainly called friends and room-mates of the students who were on the flight.”
Dr Zoli said the legacy of Lockerbie at Syracuse included the establishment of 35 remembrance scholarships, named after every student who died, as well as two scholarships each year which give Lockerbie students the opportunity to study at Syracuse.
Commemorative events at Syracuse this week include tree-planting on the south campus and a remembrance service coinciding with the exact moment of the tragedy. This will be alongside a service at the Pan Am 103 memorial cairn at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC, organised by the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 families group.
Syracuse is also hosting a special exhibition – We Remember Them: The Legacy of Pan Am Flight 103.
However, while most Americans will remember Pam Am flight 103, Dr Zoli doesn’t know if the wider US public remember the details of the attack and the way it affected the US and Scotland. It certainly isn’t remembered in the way 9/11 has been since 2001.
“One of the most significant things to come from Lockerbie,” she said, “is that the families who came together on both sides of the Atlantic in the aftermath of the attack – The Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 families group – pushed for the transportation security and authority types of elements that we see today. Things we take for granted now like your luggage not being able to travel apart from you, and other elements such as enhanced luggagescreening.
“These are very basic protective mechanisms. A no-brainer in a way... But this group really was responsible for initiating these policy changes.
“It’s quite unusual in that we’ve had other tragedies and attacks where the affected communities and families did not get together and become a policy force. In this case the group should be commended.”