Lockerbie bombing suspect makes first appearance in U.S. court

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud, suspected of making the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 that killed 190 Americans, made his first appearance in U.S. federal court on Monday.

When Mas'ud entered the federal courtroom, he saw the families of his alleged victims face-to-face. Thirty-four years ago, in December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, which was traveling from London to New York, exploded over Lockerbie, killing all 259 people aboard the plane and 11 on the ground in the deadliest terror attack on British soil.

At his initial appearance in court, Mas'ud, who walks with a limp, wore an Alexandria Sheriff's prison uniform and a white mask. He removed the mask during the hearing. Mas'ud communicated with Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather and a public defender from Virginia through an interpreter. The public defender said Mas'ud had informed her that he wanted to hire an attorney of his own and asked for a week to do so.