Three sentences from the United States Department of Justice confirmed this key development in the story of Lockerbie.
"The United States has taken custody of alleged Pan Am flight 103 bombmaker Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi.
"He is expected to make his initial appearance in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
"Additional details, including information regarding public access to the initial appearance, will be forthcoming."
Who is Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi?
Masoud, as he's known, was named in a 2020 US Department of Justice legal document as the man who made the bomb which blew up Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988.
He had been in the frame for many years before that as the technician behind the bomb.
According to the affidavit, Masoud worked alongside the two other men accused of the bombing - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah.
The American government alleges that Masoud was a technical expert working for the Libyan Intelligence Service known as the External Security Organisation (ESO) which conducted operations against other nations and Libyan dissidents at the direction of the Libyan Government and sometimes at the direct orders of then-leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Advertisement
The US legal document claims Masoud worked as bomb maker for the ESO between 1973 and 2011.