What to know: US court hearing held for alleged Lockerbie bombmaker

What the report says

A US judge has scheduled a hearing in Washington, DC, in the long-running case against Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence official accused of helping carry out the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Al Jazeera reported that Mas’ud is the third person charged in connection with the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.

According to the report, prosecutors say Mas’ud helped make and deliver the bomb that was placed on the flight. He has denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty to two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death. If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence. The article says his trial would be the first in the United States related to the Lockerbie attack.

The hearing comes after Judge Dabney Friedrich postponed jury selection because of newly disclosed evidence, which the defence said it needed time to review. Al Jazeera noted that the judge did not describe the evidence in detail. The case has already faced multiple delays, including earlier trial dates pushed back because of the case’s complexity and Mas’ud’s health.

The Lockerbie bombing remains a major historical and legal case in both the US and Scotland. Two other Libyan suspects were previously tried in the Netherlands, where one was convicted and the other acquitted. Al Jazeera reported that the latest delay means the US trial may not begin until next year.