LONDON: A Libyan man accused of making the bomb that destroyed a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988 is now in US custody, Scottish prosecutors said on Sunday.
Abu Agila Mohammad Masud was charged by the US two years ago for the Lockerbie bombing. He had previously been held in Libya for his alleged involvement in a 1986 attack on a Berlin nightclub.
Only one individual has so far been prosecuted for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988, which claimed 270 lives.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi spent seven years in a Scottish prison after his conviction in 2001.
He died in Libya in 2012, always maintaining his innocence.
“The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi ... is in US custody,” a spokesperson for Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said.
“Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with Al-Megrahi to justice.”
There was no further information given on when Masud was handed over, and his fate has been tied up in the warring factionalism of Libyan politics.
He was kidnapped by a Libyan militia group, according to reports last month cited by the BBC, following his detention for the Berlin attack which killed two US soldiers and a Turkish citizen.
Masud was reputedly a leading bombmaker for Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. According to the US indictment, he assembled and programmed the bomb that brought down the Pan Am jumbo jet.
The investigation was relaunched in 2016 when Washington learned of his arrest after Qaddafi’s ouster and death in 2011, and his reported confession of involvement to the new Libyan regime in 2012.
However, the Libyan connection to Lockerbie has long been disputed by some.
In January 2021, Megrahi’s family lost a posthumous appeal in Scotland against his conviction, following an independent review that said a possible miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
The family wants UK authorities to declassify documents that are said to allege that Iran used a Syria-based Palestinian proxy to build the bomb that downed flight 103.
In that narrative, the Lockerbie bombing was retaliation for the downing of an Iranian passenger jet by a US Navy missile in July 1988 that killed 290 people.
Man accused of making bomb used in Lockerbie bombing is in US custody — BBC
https://arab.news/bscp5
Man accused of making bomb used in Lockerbie bombing is in US custody — BBC
- Abu Agila Masud has been taken into custody in the United States, the BBC said
White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-old men to help fill manpower needs to battle Russia
- The outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25
- The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18.
A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting age men available to help a badly outmanned Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia.
The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months.
But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its manpower if it’s going to stay in the fight with Russia.
The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the US administration believes they probably will need more.
Baltic Sea wind farms impair Sweden’s defense, says military
- The revelation comes after the Swedish government blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic on November 4
- “The Swedish Armed Forces have been clear in their evaluation regarding offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea,” the military said
STOCKHOLM: Offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea hinder the defense of Sweden and its allies, impairing the military’s ability to identify threats, it said on Wednesday.
The revelation comes after the Swedish government blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic on November 4, and stopped another off the island of Gotland on November 21 due to the military’s defense concerns.
On Wednesday the military said all wind farm projects in the Baltic would pose a problem.
“The Swedish Armed Forces have been clear in their evaluation regarding offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea,” the military said in an email to AFP.
“It would pose unacceptable risks for the defense of our country and our allies,” it added.
The government said the towers and rotating blades of wind turbines emit radar echoes and generate other forms of interference.
The relative proximity of the 13 blocked projects to the “highly militarised” Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, had been “central” in the government’s assessment, Defense Minister Pal Jonson said.
He said wind farms in the area could delay the detection of incoming cruise missiles, cutting the warning time in half to 60 seconds.
“We currently see no technical solutions or legal prerequisites for a coexistence of our defense interests and wind power in the Baltic Sea,” the Armed Forces said on Wednesday.
“The greatly deteriorated security situation after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine means that we can no longer accept any risks to our defense capability.”
“Our ability to detect incoming threats against both Sweden and our allies is vital. Our sensor chain plays a decisive role in this and it must be able to operate with the highest possible capability,” it said.
Tensions have mounted in the Baltic since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
With Sweden and Finland now NATO members, all of the countries bordering the Baltic are now members of the alliance except Russia.
The Swedish government has insisted that wind power expansion remained a priority, with electricity consumption expected to double by 2045 from the current level.
It has said other areas off Sweden’s southwestern and northeastern coasts were better suited for offshore wind projects.
ICC seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief over crimes against Rohingya
- ICC prosecutor requests arrest warrant for Gen. Min Aung Hlaing
- Hlaing accused of crimes against humanity, deportation and persecution of the Rohingya
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday applied for an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime for crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Nearly a million people were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to escape the 2017 military crackdown that UN experts have referred to as a “genocidal campaign,” amid evidence of ethnic cleansing, mass rape and killings.
ICC judges authorized an investigation into these events in 2019, saying that there was a “reasonable basis to believe widespread and/or systematic acts of violence may have been committed that could qualify as crimes against humanity.”
Although Myanmar is not a state party, Bangladesh ratified the ICC Rome Stature in 2010, which allows the court to have jurisdiction over some crimes related to the Rohingya because of their cross-border nature.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced the application for an arrest warrant for Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a visit to Bangladesh, where he met members of the displaced Rohingya population.
“My office is submitting applications to the judges of the pretrial chamber and this first application is for Min Aung Hlaing, the acting president of Myanmar and the head of the Defense Services of Myanmar. Other warrant applications will follow soon,” he said in a video message.
Hlaing took power from Myanmar’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in a coup in 2021. Serving as commander in chief of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar, since 2011, he is accused of having directed attacks against Rohingya civilians.
The ICC chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Hlaing “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh” between Aug. 25, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2017 by the armed forces, “supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians.”
The arrest warrant application “draws upon a wide variety of evidence from numerous sources such as witness testimonies, including from a number of insider witnesses, documentary evidence and authenticated scientific, photographic and video materials,” Khan’s office said.
Khan’s application is the first against a high-level Myanmar government official since the ICC investigation started seven years ago.
Nur Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist, told Arab News it was a big development in the course of delivering justice to the Rohingya community and paving the way for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
“Eventually, it will create psychological pressure on the Myanmar military junta. It will also pave the way for the world to create a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, ensuring reparation with rights, dignity, and citizenship,” he said.
In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court, started a separate case brought by Gambia, which accused Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. Five European countries and Canada have backed the proceedings.
“It’s true that a genocide had been conducted aiming to completely wipe out the Rohingya, and the Myanmar military has committed this crime. The Rohingya have been demanding for many years that those who are responsible for this genocide should be brought to trial,” Nur Khan said.
“We want to remain hopeful that this process will be expedited and that the Rohingya will get back their rights soon.”
Malaysian court drops one of the graft cases against jailed former premier Najib Razak
- Najib had already been convicted in his first graft case tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, or 1MBD, scandal
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian court on Wednesday dropped charges against jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak over criminal breach of trust linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of a state fund.
Najib had already been convicted in his first graft case tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, or 1MBD, scandal and began serving time in 2022 after losing his final appeal in his first graft case.
But he faces other graft trials including Wednesday’s case in which he was jointly charged with ex-treasury chief Irwan Serigar Abdullah with six counts of misappropriating 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) in public funds. The money was intended as 1MDB’s settlement payment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court discharged the pair after ruling that procedural delays and prosecutors’ failure to hand over key documents were unfair to the defense, said Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan. A discharge doesn’t mean an acquittal as prosecutors reserve the right to revive charges against them, he said.
“The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years after the initial charges were brought up, which are relevant to our client’s defense preparation. Therefore the court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges,” Farhan said.
Najib set up 1MDB shortly after taking power in 2009. Investigators allege more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by his associates to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases. The scandal upended Najib’s government and he was defeated in the 2018 election.
Najib, 71, issued a rare apology in October for the scandal “under his watch” but reiterated his innocence.
Last month, he was ordered to enter his defense in another key case that ties him directly to the 1MDB scandal. The court ruled that the prosecution established its case on four charges of abuse of power to obtain over $700 million from the fund that went into Najib’s bank accounts between 2011 and 2014, and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
In addition, Najib still has another money laundering trial. His wife Rosmah Mansor and other senior government officials also face corruption charges.
Pakistan ends lockdown of its capital after Imran Khan supporters are dispersed by police
- The police operation came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers
- Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand Khan’s release
ISLAMABAD: Authorities reopened roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, on Wednesday after using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who marched to Islamabad to demand his release from prison.
“All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was leading the protest, and other demonstrators fled in vehicles when police pushed back against the rallygoers following clashes in which at least seven people were killed.
The police operation came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces.
Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested since Sunday.
Bibi and leaders of her husband’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party fled to Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the party still rules.
Khan, who remains a popular opposition figure, was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
