I thought the Lockerbie bombing was a closed case until I started asking questions

ByMyles Bonnar

BBC Disclosure

I was lone a twelvemonth aged erstwhile the UK's deadliest panic onslaught shocked the world.

In December 1988, Pan Am formation 103 exploded implicit the Scottish municipality of Lockerbie, sidesplitting each 259 radical connected committee arsenic good arsenic 11 connected the ground.

I was a teen by the clip Libyan quality serviceman Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing successful 2001 and, erstwhile helium aboriginal died, I thought that was mostly the extremity of the story.

It wasn't.

The lawsuit inactive rumbles connected and, aboriginal this year, a antheral suspected of making the weaponry which blew up the plane, Abu Agila Masud, goes connected proceedings successful Washington DC.

As portion of a Radio 4 Intrigue podcast series, I had an accidental to delve into this analyzable lawsuit with caller eyes.

The deeper I dug, the much analyzable Lockerbie became and determination person been times that I don't cognize what to believe.

Jim Swire, connected the different hand, is definite what helium believes - and it is not the authoritative story.

His girl Flora died successful the bombing, but helium is convinced that whoever killed her got distant with wide murder.

Swire believes Megrahi is innocent, adjacent befriending the convicted bomber up until his decease successful 2012.

"The burning contented was to get to the truth," helium says.

"Always has been, ever volition beryllium and I volition not unopen up astir what I cognize to beryllium true."

Swire's doggedness has made him a salient dependable but astir of the Lockerbie victims' families don't hold that Megrahi's condemnation was a miscarriage of justness - and the bomber’s ain appeals against the verdi either failed oregon were abandoned.

For Swire, the simplest mentation is that Iran was down the onslaught - not Libya.

The Lockerbie bombing came 5 months aft 290 radical were killed erstwhile an Iranian commercialized airliner was changeable down by a US battleship.

Iran swore revenge and months aboriginal Pan Am formation 103 exploded connected its mode to New York.

And there's more.

Iran - overmuch similar they bash present - utilized proxy militant groups to prosecute their ends.

Before the Lockerbie bombing, a militant compartment based successful Frankfurt, portion of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC), was foiled by German police.

Police arrested suspects and seized explosive devices, concealed successful vigor cassette players, that were designed to trigger astatine altitude.

The weaponry that brought down Pan Am 103 was successful a vigor cassette subordinate hidden wrong a samsonite briefcase.

Because of this, Swire believes the instrumentality that brought down Pan Am 103 was loaded astatine Frankfurt, and not Malta arsenic the tribunal had concluded.

And, for Swire, this is lone the extremity of the iceberg.

He besides questions overmuch of the grounds presented astatine the 2001 trial, discredits witnesses, and is highly suspicious of the engagement of quality agencies - similar MI5, MI6 and the CIA - successful the aftermath of the bombing.

Combine these suspicions with his all-consuming grief and you tin spot wherefore Swire is specified a unit to beryllium reckoned with connected his quest for a information helium believes has been denied to him.

"Discovering the information became my mode of handling the consequences of the grief reaction," Swire says.

"And it was precise pugnacious for different radical to recognize that but that's conscionable the mode I'm made, I suppose."

Dick Marquise, who led the FBI's Lockerbie task force, says that successful the aboriginal days of the lawsuit helium excessively believed the PFLP-GC were the "number 1 suspect", but years of probe recovered thing to beryllium it.

"There was not 1 shred of grounds that could beryllium taken to tribunal and get a conviction," helium says. "You couldn't bash it. There was nothing."

However, determination are others, too Swire, who inactive question the "official narrative" - including erstwhile CIA cause John Holt who besides believes Iran was down the bombing.

Holt worked with Libyan quality assets successful the 1980s and was the handler of treble cause Abdul Majid Giaka, whose accusation became cardinal to the probe into the Lockerbie bombing.

Holt present believes Giaka was a "BS artist" who was retired for wealth and was feeding the CIA fake stories to get paid.

"I didn't deliberation overmuch of him astatine all," helium says.

"He gave america immoderate small tidbits astir what was going on, but helium ne'er knew thing astir the Pan Am bombing. And helium knew a batch astir Megrahi," Holt says.

Holt believes the information the CIA bankrolled Giaka devalues him arsenic an informant.

"It makes it easier for idiosyncratic to accidental immoderate the idiosyncratic who's giving them wealth wants them to say," Holt says.

I managed to get a clasp of the CIA papers - known arsenic cables - from the time, which showed what Giaka had told the Americans.

The cables day backmost to the months earlier Lockerbie and see notes of conversations betwixt Giaka and Holt and 2 earlier CIA handlers.

Within the cables, Giaka places Megrahi successful Malta - wherever the weaponry was said to person been planted - astatine a cardinal clip successful the Lockerbie plot.

Megrahi is besides said to person visited a Maltese apparel shop, buying shirts and babe grows - which were placed successful the suitcase with the weaponry and aboriginal recovered astatine the level clang site.

Giaka had adjacent talked to the CIA astir 8 kilos of orange-coloured explosives stored astatine the Malta airdrome offices. Semtex, the explosive utilized successful Lockerbie, is orange.

In the 2001 trial, Giaka was to beryllium a "key" witnesser successful the prosecution's lawsuit but the 4 judges de­scribed immoderate of his grounds arsenic "at champion grossly ex­ag­ger­ated and astatine worst sim­ply un­true".

Decades connected from Megrahi's conviction, caller quality documents person been recovered allegedly from the bosom of Libyan intelligence.

They are believed to person travel from Libyan person Colonel Gaddafi's notorious quality web tally by his spy main Abdullah Senussi.

These leaked Libyan quality documents incorporate accusation that could perchance enactment an extremity to the doubt, theories and countertheories that person tied truthful many, including me, successful knots.

The archetypal 'Senussi Files', arsenic they are present known, were shown to French journalists who aboriginal published a book, The Murderer Who Must Be Saved.

I travelled to Paris to conscionable 1 of the authors, investigative writer Vincent Nouzille.

He brought piles of documents, capable to screen the full furniture and the edifice country desk.

You tin archer helium loves his enactment and contempt having pored implicit these documents for years, he's inactive awestruck by their content.

Some of the Senussi files day backmost to autumn 1988, successful the months earlier Lockerbie, and incorporate documents seemingly detailing plans to people craft connected multi-stop flights utilizing a 11-hour long-delay timer weaponry concealed successful luggage overmuch similar the Lockerbie bombing.

It adjacent mentions tests connected concealing a instrumentality wrong a portion recorder.

As we spell done each document, my caput is spinning.

There are references to adust runs, evident weaknesses successful airdrome security, and capable item astir the movements of Megrahi and others for Nouzille to crosscheck dates and places against different sources.

Nouzille says helium spent 3 years cautiously verifying everything successful the files.

He shows maine different record which details the evident movements of Megrahi and Masud, coming successful and retired of Malta.

This relationship lines up with the accusation provided successful the CIA cables from the antecedently discredited Giaka.

"We cognize from the CIA cables that Giaka reported the aforesaid people, the aforesaid dates, the aforesaid mendacious passport, astatine the aforesaid date," Nouzille says.

"So 2 sources, independent, which match."

The Senussi Files look to corroborate respective details archetypal mentioned successful the cables, including the beingness of semtex astatine Luqa Airport successful Malta.

Nouzille shows maine a translated document, signed by Megrahi, dated January 87, which mentions "10 kilos of explosive material" stored astatine the airdrome by Lamin Khalif Fhimah, the antheral who stood proceedings alongside Megrahi successful 2001 but was acquitted.

I tried to interaction Fhimah via his proceedings lawyer to enactment these allegations to him, but I was incapable to scope him.

Nouzille concedes that these documents are not "final proof" that Libya was targeting Pan Am 103 flight, but helium believes this is grounds of their modus operandi.

"We person a mentation of a multi-stop formation and a suitcase - and aft 11 hours the weaponry volition explode," Nouzille says.

The Senussi Files that Nouzille has are copies, not originals, truthful they cannot beryllium forensically tested.

It remains to beryllium seen whether they volition beryllium admissible successful the upcoming trial.

If they're authentic, these files whitethorn beryllium erstwhile and for each that Megrahi was guilty.

As Nouzille packed distant the documents, I thought of Jim Swire and what this could each mean for him.

He's devoted his beingness to this lawsuit - adjacent befriending Megrahi during his quest to find answers.

However, contempt the years spent by Nouzille to authenticate the documents, the Senussi Files person failed to person him that Libya was responsible.

Swire says: "I don't deliberation that you should, with your eyes open, spell into believing that immoderate documents, nevertheless cleanable they whitethorn look to be, are genuine which beryllium conveniently that this was a Libyan job."

He said the CIA had the quality to forge immoderate documents they wanted.

Despite respective delays, Masud is owed to spell connected proceedings successful August this year.

Whether this volition beryllium pushed backmost again remains to beryllium seen.

It's precise apt that humanities grounds from the archetypal Lockerbie proceedings volition beryllium brought nether the microscope erstwhile again - opening up aged wounds and catalysing a caller epoch of questioning.

Or, if admissible and verified, the Senussi Files mightiness beryllium erstwhile and for each what Dick Marquise and different investigators person been saying each along.