Reuters said the arraignment of the Libyan intelligence operative suspected of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and killed 270 people, Abu Agila Masud Al-Mariami, was deferred on Wednesday due to delays and challenges securing a defense attorney. He is due to be arraigned on February 8, and the judge set a detention hearing for February 23.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya formally appointed federal public defender Whitney Minter to represent him on Wednesday, after Minter said Masud’s family was unable to retain a defense lawyer on their own.
Minter said Masud has no substantial assets and has not been employed for a decade. He makes mortgage payments on a home in Libya, and his children help cover his living and medical expenses.
Minter asked for additional time to review the indictment with him before entering a plea or addressing the government’s request to keep him detained pending trial.
