Libyan officials say a powerful militia was involved in the clandestine detention and questioning of a suspect in the 1988 downing of a New York-bound PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.

A former Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 has appeared in federal court in Washington to face charges of international terrorism.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced new charges Monday against a Libyan bombmaker in the 1988 explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, an attack that killed 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground. But it nonetheless represents one of the more consequential counterterrorism announcements from the Trump administration Justice Department. “At long last, this man responsible for killing Americans and many others will be subject to justice for his crimes," Barr said. The New York-bound Pan Am flight exploded over Lockerbie less than an hour after takeoff from London on Dec. 21, 1988. Besides Barr, another key figure in the Lockerbie investigation was Robert Mueller, who was the Justice Department’s criminal chief at the time the first set of charges was announced.