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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 13 december 2022
Libyan accused in Lockerbie bombing to appear in U.S. court

By ERIC TUCKER abroad. membrances of his daugh-
Associated Press The bombing laid bare the ter are an “everyday thing”
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Lib- threat of international ter- and “this time of year, it
yan intelligence official ac- rorism more than a decade gets stronger.”
cused of making the bomb before the Sept. 11, 2001, The announcement of
that brought down Pan Am attacks. It produced global charges against Mas’ud
Flight 103 over Lockerbie, investigations and punish- on Dec. 21, 2020, came
Scotland, in 1988 in an in- ing sanctions while spur- on the 32nd anniversary of
ternational act of terrorism ring demands for account- the bombing and in the fi-
is to appear Monday in ability from victims of those nal days of the tenure of
federal court in Washing- killed. Several victims de- then-Attorney General Wil-
ton to face charges. scribed as surreal the news liam Barr. At the time of the
The extradition of Abu Agila that Mas’ud was finally in announcement, Mas’ud
Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir American custody. was in Libyan custody. The
Al-Marimi is a milestone in “It was quite a moment,” criminal charges were a
the decades-old investi- said Kara Monetti Weipz, career bookend of sorts for
gation into the attack that sister of victim Rick Monetti, Barr, who in his first stint as
killed 259 people in the air a Syracuse University stu- attorney general in the ear-
and 11 on the ground. dent, and the president of ly 1990s had announced
The Justice Department Victims of Pan Am Flight criminal charges against
announced Sunday that 103. “It was unbelievable two other Libyan intelli-
Mas’ud had been taken that it was really happen- gence officials.
into U.S. custody, two years ing after all these years, The Libyan government ini-
after it revealed that it had and especially after the last tially balked at turning over
charged him in connection two years.” the two men, Abdel Baset
with the explosion. Two oth- Outside the courthouse Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen
er Libyan intelligence of- Monday, Paul Hudson Khalifa Fhimah, before ulti- This image provided by the Alexandria, Va., Sheriff’s Office
ficials have been charged carried a photograph of mately surrendering them shows Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who is
in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, Dec. 12,
in the U.S. for their alleged his daughter, Melina, a for prosecution before a 2022 in Alexandria, Va.
involvement in the attack, 16-year-old student who panel of Scottish judges sit- Associated Press
but Mas’ud would be the was returning for the Christ- ting in the Netherlands as
first defendant to appear in mas holidays from an ex- part of a special arrange- trade In that interview, U.S. offi-
an American courtroom for change program in Eng- ment. A breakthrough in the in- cials said, Mas’ud admitted
prosecution. land. He recalled how, Torn by civil war since 2011, vestigation came when U.S. building the bomb in the
The New York-bound Pan after the crash, her belong- Libya is divided between ri- officials in 2017 received a Pan Am attack and work-
Am flight exploded over ings were scattered around val governments in the east copy of an interview that ing with two other conspira-
Lockerbie less than an the Lockerbie countryside. and west, each backed Mas’ud, a longtime explo- tors to carry out the attack.
hour after takeoff from The family did get back by international patrons sives expert for Libya’s intel- He also said the operation
London on Dec. 21, 1988. her passport and her note- and numerous armed mi- ligence service, had given was ordered by Libyan in-
Citizens from 21 countries book. litias on the ground. Mili- to Libyan law enforcement telligence and that Gad-
were killed. Among the “And the notebook had, tia groups have amassed in 2012 after being taken hafi thanked him and other
190 Americans on board on the cover, the quote great wealth and power into custody following the members of the team after
were 35 Syracuse Univer- ‘No one dies unless they’re from kidnappings and their collapse of the govern- the attack, according to
sity students flying home for forgotten,’ and I’ve tried to involvement in Libya’s lu- ment of the country’s lead- an FBI affidavit filed in the
Christmas after a semester live by that,” he said. Re- crative human trafficking er, Col. Moammar Gadhafi. case.q

Biden restarts task force on immigrants’

success in U.S.

migrants who have green make the nation stronger. that allowed border offi-
cards and other types of There are several ways cials to turn most migrants
legal status, according to immigrants come to the away. The Biden adminis-
the White House. A ver- U.S.; as a refugee, through tration was using that poli-
sion of the task force had programs that allow tem- cy to turn away increasing
been in existence off and porary legal status for cer- numbers of Venezuelans
on since the mid-2000s, tain migrants arriving from coming to the U.S.-Mexico
most recently under former war-torn or nations places border. And the U.S. cap
President Barack Obama destroyed by natural disas- on refugee admissions is

A flag is waved during an immigration rally outside the White before it lapsed under Don- ters, through visas and then also up again to 125,000
House, in Washington, Sept. 4, 2017. ald Trump, whose restrictive applying for a green card, following deep cuts in the
Associated Press policies were aimed at al- and at the borders, where previous administration.
lowing as few migrants into they come to ports of en- That number excludes the
By COLLEEN LONG The Task Force on New the U.S. as possible. try or cross illegally and roughly 180,000 Ukrainians
Associated Press Americans will be run by The Biden administration’s ask for asylum. Right now, and Afghans who came to
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the Domestic Policy Coun- approach to immigration the administration is grap- the United States through a
Biden administration is re- cil and the focus will be - or more specifically immi- pling with increasingly large different path that moves
instating a task force that workforce training, educa- grants - is more welcoming; numbers at the U.S.-Mexico more quickly than the tradi-
is aimed at helping immi- tion and financial access the president has said many border and a possible surge tional refugee program but
grants and refugees inte- as well as language learn- times that he feels they en- following the upcoming only allows for stays of up to
grate into the United States. ing and the health of im- rich the Unites States and end of a COVID-era policy two years.q