Lockerbie police meet ex-Libyan minister Moussa Koussa
Police investigating the Lockerbie bombing have met Libyan defector Moussa Koussa, as a man whose home was damaged in 1988 tells Channel 4 News he is “surprised but pleased” at the development.
Former foreign minister Moussa Koussa, who arrived in the UK from Libya last week, is believed to have been an intelligence officer at the time of the 1988 Lockerbie atrocity.
Scottish police and prosecutors requested an interview with him at a meeting with Foreign Office officials on Monday.
A statement issued by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “We can confirm that officers of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, supported by COPFS, today met Mr Moussa Koussa in relation to the ongoing investigation into the Lockerbie bombing.”
No details of the meeting were released “in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation”, a spokesman said.
I’m concerned that the authorities will find out new information but not tell the public because it would expose a flawed trial. Canon Patrick Keegans
Mr Koussa was head of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi‘s intelligence agency from 1994 and a senior intelligence agent when PanAm flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie.
Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was jailed for mass murder in 2001 but was returned to Tripoli in 2009 on compassionate grounds after doctors treating him for prostate cancer gave him an estimated three months to live.
‘Surprised but pleased’
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet was en route from London to New York when it exploded over Lockerbie.
Canon Patrick Keegans’s house was hit by the falling debris which killed several of his neighbours.
Canon Keegans told Channel 4 News he was “surprised but pleased” by the development: “A lot of things have been held back from us regarding Megrahi and Lockerbie.
“He (Moussa Koussa) is bound to know something.
“I’m very doubtful about Megrahi’s conviction and think the perpertrators of this crime are still free after committing mass murder.”
But Canon Keegans told Channel 4 News he had doubts that the whole truth would come out.
“I think it’s strange that the authorities have waited for a Libyan to come forward.
“Two years ago Hillary Clinton said the perpetrators would be pursued with vigour but as far as I see there has been no real attempt.”
He continued: “I’m concerned that the authorities will find out new information but not tell the public because it would expose a flawed trial.”
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Yvonne Fletcher
As well as the Lockerbie bombing, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has led calls for Mr Koussa to be quizzed in relation to the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot during a protest outside London’s Libyan Embassy in 1984.
The Libyan defector has also been accused of helping to arm the IRA, another subject that could be broached by potential interrogators.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the Commons earlier this week that officials would encourage Mr Kusa to co-operate fully with all requests for interviews with investigating authorities.
He said on Monday: “We will encourage Moussa Koussa to co-operate fully with all requests for interviews with law enforcement and investigation authorities in relation both to Lockerbie as well as other issues stemming from Libya’s past sponsorship of terrorism and to seek legal representation where appropriate.”