2 indicted Suspects are spies for Libya By Jerry Seper and Paul Bedard THE WASHINGTON TIMES, The United States and Britain yes- terday charged two Libyan intelli- gence agents with murder and con- spiracy in the deaths of 270 persons in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am - Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, described as “officers and operatives” of the Libyan intelligence agency, are ac- cused of planting the bomb on the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and murdering the 259 persons on board and 11 on the ground. The two men, both of whom are believed to be in Libya, are consid- ered fugitives. “This investigation is by no means over,’ Attorney General-designate William P Barr, who was deputy at- torney general when nominated for the top Justice Department job, said in announcing the indictment in Washington. “We will not rest until all those responsible are brought to justice, and we have no higher priority.” The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury. A similar indict- ment against the two Libyans was announced simultaneously in Brit- ain by Scotland’s Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, who said Libyan government officials would be pressed to turn the men over for trial. Meanwhile, the White House strongly indicated that Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi was involved in the bombing and sug- gested that state-sponsored terror- ism would be met with diplomatic and then military retaliation. In an unusually blunt statement, White House press secretary Martin Fitzwater said, “We are talking about thé full range of matters that are available to courtries in terms of ‘ their authorities — the diplomatic, civilian, military, across the whole gamut.” Senior administration officials said President Bush already has dis- cussed retaliation plans with the leaders of several NATO allies. in- cluding British Prime Minister John Major and French President Fran- cots Mitterrand. The discussions pr@ed For e 2003/04/18 Ki -RDP96-00789R0010014 léathis > The suspects: Abde! Basset Ali Megrahi (left) and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are charged in the 1988 bombing of Flight 103, which killed 270. " * ‘, . ¥ . Security has been stepped up : instailations and air bases out of concern that Libya might react to the indictment with terrorist action. s first major crimi- nal indictment since being nom- see LEBYANS, page A& to turn over the alleged conspirators. Mr. Fitzwater and other officials made the case for military action by characterizing the bombing as state- “ABBHOV AUF oRREIFASE ZONSINAREB: CIATROPOG: DA ARaRbitoo MARIO group. But administration officials pressed the peaceful, Q th bring the suspects tay Hig, my have taken place over the past sev- “We are considering ‘action, and I'll leave it at that.” he said. As the indictment was an- Military options include seizing the alleged terrorists and senior Lib- yan authorities, a administration sol they said, the administration would team with other nations to press Libva through diplomatic channels to play a major role in sponsoring “and promoting international terror- By Gerald Nadler THE WASHINGTON TIMES. MOSCOW — Soviet President Mic khail Gorbachev reached ‘agre ment with the leaders of severr publics yesterday to presérve ve union government in a‘hiew sconked, i erated state. The accord reached after’ “all day talks at Mr. Gorbachev's dacha « side Moscow marked’ the most siz- nificant progress since thie failed August coup at maintaining? ‘a-cen- tral government, which is preferred“: by international financial orgast tions and foreign states id dealin with Moscow. But five republics — the Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia.and Us bekistan — did not attend the State Council meeting at Novo-Ogarevs with Mr. Gorbachev; the agreement _ is also only the first step in a lone. : process. The political union pact ‘Toust be. finalized, then approved by the par- liaments of the republics and sent back to the State Council. ”~.... Foreign governments ‘are con- cemed that the lack of a central gov-. -| ernment structure could lead to. a dangerous dispersal of Soviet nu-*-[ clear weapons among the republics’ and that there would be no central authority to pay the foreign debt of $70 billion. Mr. Gorbachev, who has threat- ened twice in the last three months to resign if a union treaty is not signed, held his hands together. in’ front of him in a pose of relief and thankfulness at the televised news.. conference where the progress. ward a pact with the republics was announced. . “The [new] Union. of Sovereign States will be a confederated; demo cratic government,” Mr. Gorbachev said, He added that a military ui agreement was one of the néxt step toward reforging the Soviet state. Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbavyev, presidents: of ‘the. two: largest republics, Russia and Ka- zakhstan, then stepped forward to” announce their approval of the ac cord as a smile engulfed Mr Gorbe. chev’'s face. + ge ah “It is hard to sav w hat’ Ww il be 2 see SOVIETS, page AB:
aN Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00789R001001430002-1 --From page Al ,.{nated last month, described the in- ~Vestigation as “one of the most ‘exhaustive and complex” in history. “_ “We charge that two Libyan of- -ficials, acting as operatives of the Libyan intelligence service along - with other co-conspirators, planted and detonated the bomb that de- _ stroyed Pan Am Flight 103." he said. . “I have just telephoned some of .Pan Am Flight 103 to inform them _ and the organizations of survivors , that this indictment has been re- “turned,” he said. “Their loss has been ever-present in our minds” The 193-count indictment, re- -turned by a federal grand jury in “>Washington, alleges that the two Lib- iyan intelligence officials con- structed a bomb of plastic explosive vand a sophisticated timing device ‘and put it into a portable radio- Cassette player in a suitcase. *. On Dec. 20, 1988, according to the indictment, they flew from Libya to «Malta, where one of them had , Worked for Libyan Arab Airlines and had access to baggage tags of an- ‘other airline, Air Malta. « “By using stolen Air Malta bag- ‘gage tags, the defendants and their ‘co-conspirators were able to route the bomb-rigged suitcase as unac- companied luggage,” Mr. Barr said. “The suitcase was put aboard an Air -Malta flight that went to Frankfurt, Germany.” At Frankfurt, the indictment said, ‘the. suitcase was transferred to a connecting. Pan Am flight — 103-A -— bound for Heathrow Airport in ‘London. At Heathrow, it was placed ;aboard Pan Am 103 and exploded -about 38 minutes after the aircraft ‘had left for New York City on Dec. *21, 1988. The two Libyans are charged with ‘conspiracy to murder those on board the plane and placing a bomb on the "jet. The United States has no extradi- tion treaty — or diplomatic relations +— with Libya to bring them to this “country for trial. Justice Depart- ~ ment authorities said they hoped to ~ get the men back to the United States ~ but did not elaborate. « Mr. Barr said U.S. and Scottish + authorities, after an “exhaustive” , analysis of tons of debris, deter- : mined that the bomb had been in the * suitcase in a large, aluminum bag- * gage container in the aircraft’s for- + ward cargo hold. He said the bomb ; consisted of 10 to 14 ounces of plas- . tic explosive. *« “The methodical crime scene in- * vestigation yielded a tiny, small frag- * ment —- smaller than a fingernail — * that had been driven by the blast into * the large cargo container” he said. + “Forensic experts determined that ; this was part of the circuit board of « the Toshiba radio.” He said a fragment of green cir- . cuit board, also smaller than a fin- ~"gernail, was found in a piece of shirt . that had been in the suitcase contain- ing the bomb. “Scientists determined that it was . part of the bomb’s timing device and ' traced it to its manufacturer, a Swiss ., company that had sold it to a high- -. level Libyan intelligence official,” * Mr. Barr said. : Mr. Megrahi, 39, was described by " US. authorities as a senior officer of - the Libyan intelligence agency, -, known as the Jamahirya Security “ Organization. They said he has held . Various positions with Libyan Arab Airlines and served as director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Tripoli at the time of the bombing. ; Mr. Fhimah, 35, also was de- ' scribed as a covert agent of the Lib- yan intelligence agency and worked ’ as station officer with Libyan Arab ., Airlines in Malta. - The indictment represents the first charges to be filed in the nearly - 3-year-old case. Of those who died in the terrorist explosion, 189 were Americans. The victims were from 21 countries and included eight fam- ilies of four. Sixteen infants sitting on the laps of their parents also were killed. Thirty-five of the victims were Syracuse University students re- turning to the United States after a .. pre-Christmas trip to Europe. The investigation initially cen- “tered on allegations that the Syria- ‘ backed Popular Front for the Liber- -ation of Palestine-General Com- mand (PFLP-GC), led by suspected terrorist Ahmed Jibril, had been re- sponsible for the Pan Am bombing. CIA intelligence officials orig- /inally said the organization con- spired with Iranian officials to at- , tack a US. airliner in retaliation for ~the 1988 accidental downing of an Iranian jetliner by a US. warship, , the USS Vincennes, in the Persian ) > Gulf. * . But Assistant Attorney General « Robert. Mueiler III, who heads the «Justice Department's criminal divi- sion, said yesterday there was no evi- Tran, Syria or the PFLP-GC., Yesterday’s State Department re- ‘ port on Libya’s terrorism role said: '  @Libya provides training facili- - ties and several million dollars a “which has been connected to 28¢C %. SPAGE A8 / FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1991 « the families of those murdered in- dence to link the Pan Am bombing to — The Washi WHO DID IT? initially, the Pan Am bombing investigation centered on the Syria-backed terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General _ Command. Yesterday's indictment against two Libyan intelligence officers said they acted with “other co-conspirators.” but officials said there was no evidence to link the bombing to Iran, Syria or the PFLP-GC. Various officials and press reports pointed to this list of characters as possible suspects during the probe. @ Mohammed Abu Talb: Identified by a Swedish court as a suspect in bombing and a member of the Palestine Popular Struggle Front. Suspected of purchasing some of the clothing found in the suitcase on Pam Am Flight 103 in which the bomb was hiden @ Hafez Dalkomoni: PFLP-GC member and key aide to Jibril, was arrested in West Germany with 13 other suspected terrorists two months before the Pan Am incident. U.S. intelligence officials identified him as being involved in bombing attempts. paulla 1 Son sa Koussa: Vice minister of Libyan forei U.S. intelligence officials as a suspect in prior bom Naydi: f | on affairs. Identified by ing attempts colleague of Mol nm Nov. 14, 1991 — Two Libyan in bomb that destroyed Flight 103 resident Bush signs a bill tightening airport security. — A British government to make aircratt. astisfied with the report because it failed to. af alr June 11, 1990 — Justice Department reports “significant progress” in the investigation but says evidence to bring charges was still “not in hand’ M 199 et fl . 30, 1989 — West German officials Say investigators found a trail leading to Malta as the likely source of the bomb an say a Libyan man may have played a role. Aug. 4, 1989 — President Bush announces formation ofa even-member commission to investigate air terrorism, with particular mphasis on the Pan Am bombing. pril 3, 1989 — The United States announces new measures to combat ky terrorism. sti gators say the bomb was planted in the 8, 1988 — Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch says the jet was blown up by a powerful bomb made of plastic explosives. Lawyers representing families of the victims say they will sue the U.S. government and Pan Am. Dec. 22, 1988 — British investigators say sabotage was the most likely cause of the crash. U.S. officials say a threat to blow up a Pan Am flight to New York originating in Frankfurt, Germany, as Flight 103 had, was made to U.S. embassies in Europe and major airline rlier in the month The Washington Times deaths in more than 100 terrorist ation Front, which has a long history attacks. : of terrorist attacks, remain based in ® Col. Gadhafilast year gavemore _ Libya, receiving broad government than $1 million to the PFLP-GC, a support. terrorst group responsible for the eLibya’s terrorist support and _ year to tiepfiroNedl Rogdtalease ZACH in Ge RUE -0OTEDROR TN ASNOPzey traced to the Elements of the Palestine Liber- Costa Rica, Peru and Chile.