Fifteenth Anniversary of the Pan Am Passenger Jet Explosion Over Lockerbie

On the fifteenth anniversary of the explosion of the Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in mid-1988, the relatives of British victims have called for an independent inquiry to compel British authorities to act. A group representing the families of the British victims of Pan Am Flight 103 claims there are many important questions that need answers. This group states that the government has used the passage of time to diminish the necessity of addressing these questions regarding the unresolved murders of 270 people. Pan Am Flight 103, which was traveling from Frankfurt and London to New York, exploded over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, killing all 29 passengers on board and 11 others on the ground. Approximately three years ago, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a former Libyan security officer, was convicted for placing a bomb in a suitcase that caused the explosion and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Libya faced years of economic sanctions from the international community before handing over the accused for trial in the UK. Earlier this year, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing and agreed to pay billions of dollars in compensation to the victims' families.