CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (AP) - A special Scottish court in the Netherlands opened an appeals hearing Monday for a Libyan intelligence agent convicted of mass murder for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing - a case that exposed the complexity of putting terrorism on trial.Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was convicted Jan. 31 for planting the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in what was then one of the worst terrorist attacks against an American target.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 270 people, 179 of them Americans, in the Dec. 21, 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.
As world attention against focuses on international terrorism, 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.
The substance of the appeal probably won't be heard until next year.
The appeal comes at a time when the world is confronted anew with the problem of capturing terrorists and bringing them to justice in response to the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Two Scottish police officers guard the entrance to the court in Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, Monday Oct. 15, 2001. A special Scottish court in the Netherlands opened an appeals hearing Monday for a Libyan intelligence agent convicted of mass murder for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was convicted Jan. 31 for planting the bomb that blew up the flight, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 270 people, 179 of them Americans, in the Dec. 21, 1988 explosion. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)
- Oct 15 6:25 AM ET