Justice Dept. charges bombmaker in 1988 Pan Am explosion

The Justice Department on Monday unsealed charges accusing a Libyan bomb expert in the 1988 explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, an attack that killed 259 people in the air and an additional 11 on the groundThe charges were announced on the 32nd anniversary of the bombing and in the final news conference of Attorney General William Barrs tenure, underscoring his personal attachment to a case that unfolded during his first stint at the Justice Department.

The Justice Department on Monday unsealed charges accusing a Libyan bomb expert in the 1988 explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, an attack that killed 259 people in the air and an additional 11 on the ground

The charges were announced on the 32nd anniversary of the bombing and in the final news conference of Attorney General William Barrs tenure, underscoring his personal attachment to a case that unfolded during his first stint at the Justice Department. He announced an earlier set of charges against two Libyan intelligence officials in his capacity as acting attorney general nearly 30 years ago, vowing that the investigation would continue. Though Barr had not appeared at a press conference in months, he led this one two days before his departure as something of a career bookend

In presenting new charges, the Justice Department is revisiting a case that deepened the chasm between the United States and Libya, laid bare the threat of international terrorism more than a decade before the September 11 attacks and produced global investigations and punishing sanctions.