Libyan Acquitted in Lockerbie Bombing Case Dies at 70

Amin Khalifa Fahima, the Libyan national acquitted in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, has died at the age of 70. Libyan Airlines announced his passing on Tuesday.

Fahima, a former employee of the airline, was initially charged alongside fellow Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. The two were accused of killing the 270 people aboard the flight and on the ground. They were handed over in 1999 for trial by a Scottish court in Zeist, Netherlands.

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Fahima was acquitted through a test that showed he was in Sweden at the time of the attack.

The trial commenced in May 2000. In January 2001, Fahima was acquitted when evidence proved he was in Sweden during the attack. In contrast, al-Megrahi was found guilty, deemed to have played a "key role" in the bombing, and convicted of murder and terrorist conspiracy. He received a life sentence, which was later commuted, leading to his release and return to Libya, where he died in 2012.

The case remains open, with the United States indicting Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir al-Marimi in 2020, who is suspected of building the bomb. The trial against al-Marimi in Washington, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed to the following Monday due to the emergence of new evidence.

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Al-Megrahi was declared guilty for playing a 'key role' in the bombing of the American plane.