Posted on 07/25/2026 7:55:18 PM PDT by RandFan
I was only a year old when the UK's deadliest terror attack shocked the world.
In December 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board as well as 11 on the ground.
I was a teenager by the time Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in 2001 and, when he later died, I thought that was largely the end of the story.
It wasn't.
The case still rumbles on and, later this year, a man suspected of making the bomb which blew up the plane, Abu Agila Masud, goes on trial in Washington DC.
As part of a Radio 4 Intrigue podcast series, I had an opportunity to delve into this complex case with fresh eyes.
The deeper I dug, the more complicated Lockerbie became and there have been times that I don't know what to believe.
Jim Swire, on the other hand, is sure what he believes - and it is not the official story.
His daughter Flora died in the bombing, but he is convinced that whoever killed her got away with mass murder.
Swire believes Megrahi is innocent, even befriending the convicted bomber up until his death in 2012.
"The burning issue was to get to the truth," he says.
"Always has been, always will be and I will not shut up about what I know to be true."
For Swire, the simplest explanation is that Iran was behind the attack - not Libya.
The Lockerbie bombing came five months after 290 people were killed when an Iranian commercial airliner was shot down by a US battleship.
Iran swore revenge and months later Pan Am flight 103 exploded on its way to New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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Summary: "What I learned when I reopened the Lockerbie bombing files" (BBC News)
Journalist Myles Bonnar (BBC Disclosure) re-examined the 1988 Lockerbie bombing—Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people—for a Radio 4 Intrigue podcast. Though he once viewed the case as largely closed after Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's 2001 conviction (and 2012 death), deeper investigation revealed ongoing complexities and doubts. Key Elements:
“a US battleship”
Oh, those fantastically knowledgeable urinelysts.
This was former CIA agent Robert Baer’s contention in his book “See No Evil”; Iran was behind the Lockerbie bombing. He was an on-the-ground CIA agent in the Middle East and had a better idea of what was really going on than the keyboard warriors back in DC.
I’ll never forget that day….it was the day my dear dad died. Twelve years later I visited Lockerbie. It’s hallowed ground. The locals are very kind to visiting Americans.
What? You don’t believe those 16 inch guns can hit a plane at 37,000 feet?
Ever since it happened I assumed Iran did it in retaliation for our shooting down their passenger plane.
You are quite right! Robert Bear was convinced Iran was behind the bombing, aided and abetted by their proxies in Syria PFLP-GC.
However, then politics intervened. Bush and Baker initiated peace negotiations (Madrid 1991) with all parties, including Syria. It would have been difficult to include Syria, if the Syrian regime had been under investigation for the PanAm-bombing. And if Syria had not taken part the Soviet Union would not have agreed to take part. (The last time Soviet Union took part in MidEast negotiations, since the collapse was total a few months later.)
“Luckily enough” all evidence turned away from PFLP-GC/Syria/Iran and instead indicated Libya - a nation that was not involved in the Madrid Conference.
The trial of Abu Agila Masud will be fascinating then. It’s next month.
If it was a cover-up, don't expect it to come out in a trial. Whatever they have that would corroborate a conspiracy will be suppressed during the trial. Truth is not a priority in the current US justice system.
I noticed that too. It would've been accurate if he'd just written "warship", but I guess he wanted to be sensational.
No, an AGEIS guided missile cruiser.
Well aware what ship it was, it be sarcasm about ignorant liberal urinalysts
They captain’s wife had her car ineptly bombed in front of my gym in San Diego
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