Lockerbie bombing intended ‘to inflict pain and horror’, US court told

The bombing of an American airliner over Lockerbie 37 years ago was intended to inflict “pain and horror,” a judge has been told.

The US government made the claim as it argued that relatives of the victims should be allowed to give evidence during the trial of a Libyan suspect.

Prosecutors believe their testimony will help the jury understand the impact of the attack, which killed 270 people on December 21, 1988.

They made the request during the latest hearing on the long-delayed case at the District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington DC.

The man facing trial, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, was handed over to FBI agents in Libya in 2022 and has been in US custody for nearly four years.

He has denied building and priming the bomb which brought down the plane.