Category Archives: Lockerbie plane bombing

Blair government had misgivings about Mandela mediation role over Lockerbie

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Files show Downing Street felt former South African leader’s attempt to mediate was ‘unlikely to be helpful’

Downing Street believed Nelson Mandela’s attempt to play mediator between it and the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over the question of compensation after the Lockerbie bombing was “unlikely to be helpful”, documents reveal.

But despite misgivings, No 10 aides did not rule out using Mandela “back against [Gaddafi] if Libya rejected a reasonable offer”, the documents released by the National Archives in the UK show.

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Revealed: Libya aborted plan to hand Gaddafi spy chief to US at last minute

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Extradition of Abdullah al-Senussi over Lockerbie bombing would have closely followed that of Mohammed Abouagela Masud

The extradition to the US of Muammar Gaddafi’s most trusted and notorious aide was abruptly halted by Libya at the 11th hour this week for fear of public anger after the handover of another ex-senior Libyan intelligence operative, officials in Tripoli have told the Guardian.

Abdullah al-Senussi, a former intelligence chief and brother-in-law of Gaddafi, is blamed for a series of lethal bombings directed at western aviation as well as other targets.

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Abduction of Lockerbie bomb suspect undermines rule of law, analysts say

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Mohammed Abouagela Masud, who has appeared in US court, was seized by notorious Libyan militia from Tripoli home

The abduction of a former Libyan intelligence operative accused of preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and his transfer into US custody was agreed about three months ago after conversations between US government and Libyan officials, the Guardian has been told.

Mohammed Abouagela Masud appeared briefly in court in Washington DC on Monday, accused of having set the timer for the bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in the most deadly terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil.

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Third Lockerbie bomb suspect now in US custody, officials say

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Mohammed Abouagela Masud accused of setting timer for bomb that destroyed Boeing 747, killing 270 people

A Libyan accused of preparing the bomb that killed 270 people when an explosion ripped through Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 is now in US custody, officials have confirmed.

Scottish prosecutors, who have been closely involved in the investigation, said the families of those who were killed “have been told” that Mohammed Abouagela Masud had been extradited to the United States.

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Libya’s PM and president in dispute over foreign minister’s suspension

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Row deepens as Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh dismisses president’s decision to suspend Najla El-Mangoush

Libya’s chronic political instability has been exposed, with the country’s foreign minister, Najla El-Mangoush, suspended from office and banned from leaving the country by the president, only for the disciplinary action to be rejected by the prime minister.

The power struggle comes days before a major conference in Paris at which world powers hope to speed up the departure of foreign mercenaries and troops from Libya ahead of planned December presidential and parliamentary elections, which are hanging in the balance.

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Tony Blair urged Nelson Mandela not to discuss Lockerbie trial, papers show

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Blair wrote to then South African leader in 1997 after aides said raising issue at summit in Scotland would be ‘pretty disastrous’

Tony Blair failed in urgent attempts to prevent Nelson Mandela raising the issue of the Lockerbie trial at a Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh, which aides warned would be “pretty disastrous”, previously classified documents reveal.

The Foreign Office, on discovering Mandela was visiting Libya en-route to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Edinburgh in October 1997, warned of a “sensitive situation” if the South African leader spoke out against UK government’s plans to hold the trial of two suspects in Scotland.

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Sri Lanka terrorist attacks among world’s worst since 9/11

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Death toll from Easter Sunday’s eight bomb blasts nears 300, with 500 others injured

The wave of bombings on Sunday targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka is among the worst terrorist attacks carried out worldwide since September 11, in which 2,977 people died.

On Monday, police said the death toll had surged overnight to 290, with the number expected to rise further. About 500 people were injured, according to reports.

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