...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
-based leadership is facing a public backlash for handing Washington a suspect in the deadly 1988 Lockerbie attack, but is betting that the resulting U.S. goodwill can strengthen its hand against rivals.
The attack on a Pan Am jet over Scotland killed 270 people, the deadliest-ever terror attack in Britannia, which took place when Libya was under the rule of dictator Moamer Qadaffy.
Earlier this month, alleged former intelligence agent Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir al-Marimi appeared in a U.S. court on accusations he made the bomb used in the attack.
He could face life in prison if convicted of "destruction of an aircraft resulting in death" and two other related charges.
Masud's handover sparked a backlash against the government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah, which controls the west of the conflict-wracked country but is challenged by a rival authority and forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...in the east.
Dbeibah has faced bitter criticism from political rivals, rights groups and relatives of Libyan detainees who fear being handed over themselves.
Khaled al-Montasser, a professor of international relations at Tripoli University, said Dbeibah "will probably not stop at extraditing one suspect -- others will inevitably follow".
Dbeibah, after admitting that the handover had taken place, said he had acted "with full respect for Libyan illusory sovereignty".
He also denied rumours he was planning to hand over Abdallah Senoussi, who was Qadaffy's intelligence chief at the time of the attack.
"Senoussi will not be handed to the United States, he's in his prison in Tripoli," Dbeibah told Saudi news channel al-Arabiya.
Only one person has been convicted for the bombing, which killed all 259 people on the jumbo jet, including 190 Americans, and 11 people on the ground.
The Libyan state had considered the case closed since 2003, after Qadaffy's regime officially acknowledged its responsibility for the attack, paid $2.7 billion in compensation and handed over two Libyan suspects.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah were charged with the bombing and tried by a Scottish court in the Netherlands.
Megrahi spent seven years in a Scottish prison after his conviction in 2001 while Fhimah was acquitted.
Megrahi died in Libya in 2012, always maintaining his innocence.
But while a 2008 deal put an end to financial claims for compensation, "Washington never closes criminal cases" concerning its citizens, Montasser said.
Related:
Lockerbie: 2022-12-23 Taxpayers feel the pain of politicians' wasteful and absurd $1.7 trillion spending plan
Lockerbie: 2022-12-19 Libyan Militiamen Arrested Lockerbie Suspect Before Handing him to US
Lockerbie: 2022-12-18 Libya’s Presidential Council Calls for Release of Extradited Lockerbie Suspect
Lockerbie: 2022-12-23 Taxpayers feel the pain of politicians' wasteful and absurd $1.7 trillion spending plan
Lockerbie: 2022-12-19 Libyan Militiamen Arrested Lockerbie Suspect Before Handing him to US
Lockerbie: 2022-12-18 Libya’s Presidential Council Calls for Release of Extradited Lockerbie Suspect