A pre-trial hearing in Washington DC has heard that the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people, was intended to inflict "pain and horror" that would be reported worldwide. The hearing concerned Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a Libyan man accused of building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, and comes as prosecutors and defence lawyers confirmed the long-delayed trial is now set to begin in January, nearly 38 years after the attack.

Al-Marimi, in his mid-70s, pleaded not guilty at the hearing to two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. He was extradited from Libya to the US in 2022, and prosecutors allege he confessed to his role, a claim his lawyers dispute. Judge Dabney Friedrich indicated jury selection could start on 19 January, with the trial expected to last about two months; it has already been postponed three times, most recently in August after new evidence emerged. All 259 people aboard the flight and 11 on the ground were killed when the plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after departing London for New York; Abdelbaset al-Megrahi remains the only person convicted over the bombing, having died in 2012, while his co-accused Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, who was acquitted, died last month.