ع
Libyan Airlines announced the death of former employee Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah with profound sadness this week. The carrier, where he had served as station manager at Malta’s Luqa airport until shortly before the 1988 attack, issued a Facebook post extending heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues and loved ones. Fhimah, who worked in flight operations in later years according to the company statement, maintained his innocence in the bombing until his death at 70.
The downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on December 21 1988 killed all 259 passengers and crew plus 11 people on the ground, making it Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity. A bomb concealed in a suitcase loaded in Malta detonated as the aircraft cruised at altitude, scattering debris across southern Scotland. Scottish judges sitting in the Netherlands established the Libyan origin of the device during the 2001 proceedings at Camp Zeist.
Fhimah stood trial alongside Abdelbaset al-Megrahi after UN sanctions pressured Libya to surrender the pair for prosecution under Scottish law. The three-judge panel convicted Megrahi of 270 counts of murder but found no credible evidence placing Fhimah at Luqa airport on the day of the bombing or linking him directly to the suitcase. Megrahi received a life sentence while Fhimah was acquitted and returned home immediately.
Megrahi, released by Scottish authorities in 2009 on compassionate grounds after a terminal cancer diagnosis, died in Libya in 2012. His return sparked controversy at the time yet he continued protesting his innocence. Fhimah received a public welcome from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi upon his own return following the verdict.
A third Libyan, Abu Agila Masud, faces charges in Washington of manufacturing the explosive device after his 2022 extradition from Libya. Masud allegedly confessed to working with both Megrahi and Fhimah as members of Libyan intelligence but later denied the account, claiming it was obtained under duress. His federal trial, which had been scheduled for jury selection this week, was postponed for a third time with a status hearing now set for next month.[[1]](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/08/25/Pan-Am-flight-103-trial-postponed/7831787645434/)
The original 1991 U.S. indictment against Fhimah remains outstanding, prompting speculation that Scottish and American prosecutors might have pursued a fresh case under double jeopardy provisions had Masud been convicted. Any retrial would have required substantial new evidence unavailable at the first proceeding and would have carried considerable legal and diplomatic sensitivities. The case continues to draw attention more than three decades after the attack that defined international responses to state-sponsored terrorism.
