Scottish lawyer calls on Donald Trump to declassify Lockerbie files
More than 35 years after the disaster, a lawyer who worked with the families is hoping for answers
Last updated 17th Feb 2025
A Scottish lawyer is calling on Donald Trump to release files held by US agencies about the Lockerbie bombing.
The US president has already promised to declassify documents relating to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr, as well as information around the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Professor Peter Watson, who represented the British victims of the disaster, believes Lockerbie should be next.
He says there are many unanswered questions - such as whether some people had advanced warning of the attack.
"Did people know?"
Professor Watson said: “Here was a plane flying at the busiest time of the year, on most airlines, no seats to be had, and this particular airline was half empty.
“Did people know?
“The one thing I can say with absolute certainty, the passengers on Pan Am 103 didn’t know.”
On December 21 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 which was travelling from London to New York exploded over the village of Lockerbie, killing all 259 passengers and crew members and 11 residents on the ground.
Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer is currently the only man to be convicted of the atrocity.
"These families are indelibly marked by this tragedy"
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2001, but in 2009 he was released on compassionate grounds after a terminal cancer diagnosis and died in 2012.
Abu Agila Masud, a Tunisian-born Libyan citizen, who is alleged to have helped make the bomb, is due to go on trial in the US in May this year.
In a letter to Matthew Palmer, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy to the UK, Professor Watson has asked for the classified intelligence documents to finally be released.
He believes President Trump may be more obliging than some of his predecessors, saying: “What can be seen in the cases where he’s been involved in declassifying material, he’s seeking to make available everything that can be made available where the public have a reasonable interest in knowing.”
"They have a right to know"
He added: “These families are indelibly marked by this tragedy; they have a right to know”.
No public inquiry has ever been held, despite families of the victims calling for transparency about government accountability and aviation security failures.
Professor 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.
"They deserve transparency, truth, and answers"
“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 the 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.”
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