A lawyer who represented British victims of the Lockerbie bombing has called on Donald Trump to release files held by US agencies on the atrocity, insisting the families “deserve transparency, truth and answers”.
With the US president having moved to declassify files relating to the killings of John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Professor Peter Watson called on him to also make public documents relating to the bombing of Pan Am flight 103.
The lawyer, who served as secretary for the Lockerbie Disaster Group, a collective of legal representatives advocating for the British victims of the 1988 bombing, made the request in a letter to Matthew Palmer, the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in the UK.
No public inquiry into the bombing has been held, and Prof Watson said releasing the documents would help “fill the vacuum of understanding” that remains about the atrocity.
The jet was carrying 259 passengers and crew to the US when it was blown out of the sky above the town of Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, on December 21, 1988.
All those on board were killed, along with 11 people on the ground.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi remains the only man ever convicted over the incident. He was sentenced to life in prison but was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he died in 2012.
Libyan Abu Agila Masud, who is alleged to have helped make the bomb, is to go on trial in the US in May facing three charges – all of which he denies.
Prof Watson said: “Nearly four decades later, as new trials and investigations continue, the pursuit of truth and justice for the victims and their families endures.
“The families of the victims are entitled to know as much as possible about what happened on the night of the bombing, and we know there are documents held by the US and UK intelligence services that fill the vacuum of understanding that remains today.
“We have seen a move from President Trump to declassify a number of federal secrets, and we believe Lockerbie should be next.
“The families have waited far too long. They deserve transparency, truth and answers.”
Prof Watson is due to speak about the bombing during a visit to Nova Southeastern University in Florida on Monday February 17.
In his letter to Mr Palmer, he referenced how “under the new administration, President Trump has agreed to review classified files and assess whether certain information should, in specific instances, be declassified and made publicly available”.
Adding there is a “continued pursuit of clarity” in relation to the 1988 bombing, he asked “whether consideration is being given to reviewing and potentially releasing files held by specialist agencies in the United States related to the Lockerbie tragedy”.
Prof Watson said: “Such a step could provide invaluable insight to those directly affected by this disaster, as well as to the wider legal and academic communities seeking to fully comprehend the circumstances that led to this act of terrorism.”
