Libya

Ex-Minister: Gaddafi Ordered Lockerbie

Personally gave command for 1988 plane bombing.

In news that’s horrifying but not surprising, a Libyan defector has confirmed what’s long been suspected: Col. Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Former justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil told a Swedish newspaper that he had proof of his allegations. During an interview in Libya, Abdel-Jalil told a reporter for Expressen that Gaddafi gave Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was in prison in Scotland from 2001 to 2009, the order for the attack, which killed 270 people. Megrahi was freed from a Scottish prison and returned to Libya in 2009 on the grounds that he was near death. Abdel-Jalil is one of several top officials to step down in opposition to Gaddafi’s violent response to demonstrators.