Lockerbie Defense Vows New Evidence
CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (AP) - Lawyers for a Libyan intelligence agent convicted in the Lockerbie bombing said Monday that they will present new evidence during their appeal in a case that exposed the complexity of putting terrorism on trial.
In a preliminary hearing that began the appeal in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands, judges scheduled substantive arguments for late January, nearly a year after Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was convicted for planting the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced Jan. 31 to life imprisonment for killing 270 people, 179 of them Americans, in the 1988 explosion. Since then, he has been the only occupant of the lockup on the compound near a former air force base that was converted to a court facility for the trial.
A second suspect, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted and returned to a hero's welcome in Libya.
Chief defense attorney William Taylor told the court the defense had uncovered statements taken by police officials after the crash and ``not presented to prosecutors'' or heard in court. He gave no details, referring only a ``security officer'' who came forward with ``real'' material.
It was not clear whether Taylor was referring to a former security guard at London's Heathrow airport who reportedly said last month that he discovered a break-in at a Pan Am baggage facility early on the day the New York-bound jetliner was destroyed.
Ray Manly, 63, was quoted in Scottish newspapers as saying he was surprised the incident was not mentioned during the trial.
Al-Megrahi's appeal comes as the world is confronted anew with the problem of capturing terrorists and bringing them to justice, following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
The Lockerbie trial illustrated the difficulties of finding evidence that would stand up to judicial scrutiny, and of tracking the perpetrators to their source.
Although the 12-year investigation and the course of the trial implicated Libya in the bombing, no one was ever charged for planning or ordering the attack.
Families of the victims have said they will exhaust all legal possibilities to reveal who ordered the attack. But the court rejected an appeal from one relative Monday, ruling that there is no procedure in Scottish law that would allow victims' families to participate.
As al-Megrahi listened through headphones to a simultaneous translation, the five-judge panel rejected an appeal from Marina de Larracoechea, whose sister was a stewardess on the doomed plane, to personally intervene in the appeal.
``There is evidence that was not presented in the trial that I think was missed,'' she told the judges, urging an independent review of the investigation. ``I only seek the truth and justice of the case as soon as possible, like most of the relatives.''
The split verdict last January left many in doubt about what actually happened to Pan Am 103, but the Lockerbie case was nevertheless a legal milestone, made possible by a deal involving the United States, Scotland and Libya that brought the two suspects to a neutral country where all sides were satisfied they would get a fair trial.
Scottish law allows for an appeal only when there has been a miscarriage of justice or when new evidence has come to light. The court will review new material before ruling if it merits further examination.
If the appeal fails, al-Megrahi will be sent to Scotland to spend at least 20 years in prison. If it succeeds, it would leave one of the largest international terrorism investigations without a culprit.
Originally published October 15, 2001.
