Overview

• Scottish forensic experts have for the first time extracted DNA profiles from the lining of the bomb suitcase and a related umbrella fragment recovered from Pan Am Flight 103 debris.
• Specialist analyses overseen by Dr Nighean Stevenson employed advanced lighting techniques to recover usable genetic material from both items.
• The obtained profiles are set to be compared against a reference sample from Abu Agila Masud in advance of his scheduled trial in Washington, D.C., in April 2026.
• Masud has been in U.S. custody since 2022 after allegedly confessing under duress to building the Lockerbie bomb and has pleaded not guilty to charges of constructing and transporting the device.
• Earlier proceedings saw Abdelbaset al-Megrahi convicted for the 1988 bombing before his 2009 compassionate release and death in Libya, while co-accused Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah was acquitted but remains subject to a U.S. arrest warrant.