The Prime Minister of Libya admitted his role in the extradition of the suspect to Lockerbie to the United States

one Libya’s rival prime ministers admitted Thursday that their government was involved in the extradition to the United States of a former Libyan intelligence officer accused of building the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103. Lockerbie, Scotlandin 1988, killing everyone on board.

On Sunday, US authorities announced the arrest of former intelligence officer Abu Aghila Mohammad Masoud Kheir Al-Marimi. The next day, Massoud appeared in federal court in Washington and was charged with an act of international terrorism. US officials have not explained how he was taken into custody.

In a televised broadcast Thursday night, Libyan Prime Minister Hamid Dbaybah said Massoud’s extradition was legal and that his government was simply cooperating with “the international judicial structure to extradite the accused.” It was his first comment on extradition.

In a 20-minute speech, Dbeybah named Massoud as the mastermind of the Lockerbie bomb attack that killed 270 people and said Libya “should have erased the trace of terrorism from the foreheads of the Libyan people.” He did not provide strong evidence of this. his accusations and did not specify his government’s role in Massoud’s handover.

The US and Libya do not have a formal extradition treaty.

Dbeybah’s comments came a day after Libya’s chief prosecutor, Sadiq Al-Sour, announced an investigation into Massoud’s extradition following a complaint by the suspect’s family. The Tripoli prosecutor did not release any details of the investigation.

Massoud was “abducted” from his family’s home in Tripoli by gunmen in November, according to a statement released by his family shortly after the alleged incident. It is not known if any family members witnessed Masoud’s alleged abduction.

In that statement, the family condemned the Libyan authorities for their silence on the incident and for any extradition process that may take place later.

Libya, gripped by more than a decade of civil conflict, is divided between Dbeybah’s government in Tripoli and a rival government based in eastern Libya led by Prime Minister Fathi Bashagh. In western Libya, militia groups have amassed vast wealth and power through kidnappings and controlling the country’s lucrative human trafficking business.

On Tuesday, Bashaga called Massoud’s extradition illegal and called for his immediate release.

Massoud’s extradition has fueled discontent among Libyans long disillusioned by years of chaos and division. In Facebook videos released on Thursday, people in Tripoli were seen holding placards blaming Dbeiba and his allied militias for Massoud’s extradition. In statements released on Thursday, Libya’s two influential tribal groups also condemned the move.

A Pan Am flight bound for New York exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie after taking off from London on December 21, 1988, killing 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. About 190 American citizens were on the flight bound for New York.

A breakthrough in the long-running investigation came in 2017 when the US Department of Justice obtained a copy of a 2012 interview Massoud, a former Libyan intelligence expert on explosives, gave to law enforcement in the North African country. Then he was in custody. after the fall of the long-term rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

In an interview, Massoud admitted to making the bomb used in the Pan Am attack, US officials said. According to an FBI affidavit, Massoud said the attack was ordered by Gaddafi’s intelligence services.

Massoud is the third member of the Libyan intelligence services to be indicted by the United States in connection with the Lockerbie attack. He first appeared in an American courtroom.

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Associated Press writer Jack Jeffrey in Cairo contributed to this report.