Libyan who was cleared after Lockerbie bombing trial dies aged 70

Scotland home affairs correspondent. 26 August 2026, 07: 21 BST.

Key points

• Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah was accused of murdering 270 individuals in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.
• The charges against Fhimah and Megrahi were first confirmed by Scotland and the United States in 1991.
• The indictment against Fhimah confirmed by the US Administration in 1991 is still outstanding.
• But pursuing a prosecution in Scotland or the US would have been legally challenging and politically sensitive, given his acquittal by the Scottish court in 2001.
• Fhimah worked for the carrier in Malta before the bombing of Pan Am 103.

For context, a Libyan who was cleared after standing trial over the Lockerbie bombing has died aged 70.

He was discovered not guilty but a second Libyan, Abdulbasset Al Megrahi, was convicted of playing a key role in the bombing of the American airliner.

For context, a Facebook post by Libyan Airlines confirmed Fhimah's death and expressed the company's condolences to his family.

His funeral is due to take place on Wednesday in Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

For context, the charges against Fhimah and Megrahi were first confirmed by Scotland and the United States in 1991.

Years of sanctions imposed on Libya by the United Nations led to the two men being handed over to stand trial at a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.

In 2001, three judges convicted Megrahi of mass murder and jailed him for life, but discovered Fhimah not guilty.

After being freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish administration, megrahi died from cancer in 2012.

Fhimah always denied any involvement and was welcomed home to Libya by the country's late dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

In 2022, the FBI made public that he had been implicated in the case again, through an alleged confession produced by another Libyan who is facing trial in the United States.

When all three were members of the Libyan intelligence service, abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi is remarked to have informed a Libyan police officer that he took part in a plot to bomb the plane along with Fhimah and Megrahi.

Al-Marimi has denied making the bomb that brought down the jumbo jet and claims the confession is false and was created under duress.

For context, the contents of Al-Marimi's alleged confession and other new evidence which has emerged from Libya has led to speculation that Fhimah could have faced a second trial over the attack on the airliner.

For context, the indictment against Fhimah confirmed by the US Administration in 1991 is still outstanding.

Under the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011, external, a suspect can be tried over the same crime a second time, if there is new evidence – which was not available during the original trial – that substantially strengthens the case against them.

In practice, the BBC understands Scottish and US prosecutors would have looked at taking fresh action against Fhimah, if Al-Marimi was convicted by the court in Washington next year.

After a federal court judge agreed to postpone the case for a third time, al Marimi is now due to stand trial in Washington in January.

Meanwhile, the delay, requested by the defence, followed the emergence of "newly discovered" evidence on the case. The postponement was not connected to Fhimah's documented death.

In short, libyan who was cleared after Lockerbie bombing trial dies aged 70 is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.