Lockerbie victim's widow speaks before Pan Am flight 103's alleged bombmaker makes first court appearance
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi expected to appear in DC federal court Monday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A widow of a victim in the 1988 plane explosion that killed 270 people in Scotland spoke Monday, shortly before the suspected Lockerbie bombmaker is expected to appear in court.
The alleged Pan Am flight 103 bombmaker, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, was taken into custody by the United States, nearly 34 years after the attack, the Justice Department confirmed Sunday.
Victoria Cummock, whose husband, John, died in the attack, expressed her gratitude for the arrest Monday. The suspect is expected to make his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this afternoon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pan Am flight 103, traveling from London to New York, exploded over Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, killing all 259 people aboard and another 11 on the ground. It remains the deadliest terror attack on British soil.
BROTHER OF MAN KILLED IN LOCKERBIE BOMBING ATTACK ISSUES DIRECT PLEA TO BIDEN: ‘DON’T DEFLECT THIS'
This image provided by the Alexandria, Va., Sheriff's Office shows Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who is in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, Dec. 12, 2022 in Alexandria, Va.
Of the victims, 35 Syracuse University students were killed while returning from study abroad.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At the press conference, held in Miami, Florida, Victoria Cummock, widow of passenger John B. Cummock, and the founder and CEO of the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation, delivered prepared remarks.
Crash investigators inspect the nose section of the crashed Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747 airliner in a field near Lockerbie, Scotland, Dec. 23, 1988. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin, File)
"Today is a major milestone in the victim’s families' stalwart quest to identify and hold accountable all those responsible for the second most deadly terrorist attack against Americans. This is a decades-old promise I made to John Cummock, my 38-year-old husband, my best friend and the father of my three children," Cummock said in a statement provided to Fox News beforehand.
A man looks at the main memorial stone in memory of the victims of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, in the garden of remembrance near Lockerbie, Scotland on Friday Dec. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
She celebrated that the "U.S. arrest and apprehension of Libyan terror suspect Mas’ud, is the first tangible step made by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, in 34 years, to hold any suspect accountable in U.S. courts, for the December 21, 1988, terrorist attack against America that murdered our loved ones, aboard Pan American flight 103, flying from London to New York, exploding over Lockerbie, Scotland."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"On behalf of my family and my organization’s members, I want to express our gratitude to President Biden, a Syracuse University alumnus, and the U.S. authorities for putting actions behind their pledges," she continued. "Hopefully, this significant 1st step will begin to address the 3+ decades-long miscarriage of justice. Our wish is for criminal trial proceedings to begin immediately."
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"The victim’s families are keenly aware that after 34 years, informants and witnesses die, memories fade, and evidence can deteriorate or disappear," she added. "Aside from issuing the 1991 criminal indictments against Libyans, al-Megrahi and Fhimah, and 2020 criminal charges against Libyan Mas’ud, U.S. authorities have never arrested or prosecuted ANY suspects for the mass murder of 190 American citizens and 69 foreign nationals, aboard a U.S. flagship, including 11 people killed on the ground."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EDITOR'S NOTE: This report has been updated to clarify that the FBI did not speak at the Monday morning news conference.