Libyan cleared in Lockerbie bombing trial dies aged 70

Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah, the Libyan man acquitted in connection with the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, has reportedly died at the age of 70. Fhimah stood trial alongside Abdulbasset Al Megrahi for the attack on Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people. In 2001, a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted Megrahi but found Fhimah not guilty. Fhimah had always denied any involvement in the bombing.

Libyan Airlines announced Fhimah's death on Facebook, expressing condolences to his family. Fhimah had worked for the airline in Malta prior to the bombing. The charges against both men were announced in 1991, and they were eventually handed over for trial after years of UN sanctions against Libya.

Despite his acquittal, Fhimah was implicated again in 2022 following an alleged confession from another Libyan national, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi. Al-Marimi reportedly told a Libyan police officer that he, Fhimah, and Megrahi, all members of Libyan intelligence, were involved in plotting the bombing. Al-Marimi has denied making the bomb and claims his confession was false and made under duress. He is currently due to stand trial in Washington in January, a case that has seen several postponements, including one requested by the defense due to the emergence of "newly discovered" evidence. The BBC understands this postponement is unrelated to Fhimah's reported death.