Pan Am bombing suspect in court

WASHINGTON — More than three decades after a bomb brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing everyone aboard, a former Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb appeared Monday in federal court, charged with an act of international terrorism.

The extradition of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir AlMarimi was a milestone in the decades-old investigation into the attack that killed 259 people aboard the plane and 11 on the ground.

“Although nearly 34 years have passed since the defendant's actions, countless families have never fully recovered,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson said during a court proceeding attended by victims' relatives.

The Justice Department announced Sunday that Mas'ud had been taken into U.S. custody, two years after it revealed that it had charged him in connection with the explosion. Two other Libyan intelligence officials have been charged in the U.S. for their alleged involvement in the attack, but Mas'ud was the first defendant to appear in an American courtroom for prosecution.

The New York-bound Pan Am flight exploded over Lockerbie less than an hour after takeoff from London on Dec. 21, 1988. Citizens from 21 countries were killed. Among the 190 Americans on board were 35 Syracuse University students flying home for Christmas after a semester abroad.

The bearded and balding Mas'ud, 71, wore a green jail uniform, and walked with a halting gait to the defense table.

A detention hearing was set for later in the month.