Dbeibeh is not far from prosecution for handing over Abu Ujaila
The Libyan House of Representatives has called on judicial authorities to prosecute those involved in reopening the file of the Lockerbie incident and extraditing the Libyan citizen Abu Ujaila Massoud to the United States, in what appears to be a reference to the Government of National Unity led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who admitted that his government was behind the extradition.
This call cannot be separated from the ongoing conflict between the Council of Representatives headed by Aguila Saleh and the Council of Dbeibeh over political issues, the most important of which is the agreement with the Supreme Council of State on the constitutional base and the organization of elections.
The parliament called on Libya’s judiciary to assign a legal team to defend Massoud, who is facing sanctions in Washington for his alleged role in the bombing of a US airliner 34 years ago.
The parliament said in a session held on Monday to discuss the latest developments of Abu Ujaila’s extradition to the United States that it had reached “four points, including the selection of a parliamentary committee made up of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Legislative Committee and the Justice Committee to follow up the incident.”
In a statement, the MP called on the judiciary to “assign a legal team to defend Massoud and follow up on the case, in addition to addressing the Public Prosecutor to brief the Council on the case of his extradition.”
The parliament also decided to “fortify and prevent the future extradition of any Libyan citizen by any party.”
He said in a televised speech last month that “Abu Ujaila Massoud was mentioned in the investigations two years ago, before the arrival of my government, and an arrest warrant was issued against him by Interpol.”
Dbeibeh attacked opponents of the extradition of al-Libi, saying, “Libya was delayed for many years because of its involvement in terrorist operations. In the eyes of the world, we now belong to a terrorist state, and some now defend a terrorist suspect accused of killing 270 innocent souls.”
Following the speech, the Libyan House of Representatives issued a document at the time to request the initiation of criminal proceedings against those involved in the “kidnapping” of Abu Ujaila, including Dbeibeh. It seems that the legislative institution is seeking to activate this period within the framework of the ongoing political struggle regarding the constitutional base and elections.
The parliament and other political forces accused Dbeibeh of squandering national sovereignty to win U.S. support for staying in power, which the unity government rejects.
Observers believe that the repercussions of the Abu Ujaila file will further complicate the political situation in Libya, despite the efforts made by the UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathili to narrow the gap between the various Libyan forces.
One person has so far been convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988, the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil.
The plane, which was heading to New York, exploded 38 minutes after taking off from London, causing its skeleton to fall in the town of Lockerbie while the wreckage spread over a wide area.
The bombing killed 259 people, including 190 Americans, on board the flight and 11 on the ground.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al Megrahi spent seven years in a Scottish prison after being convicted in this case in 2001, and died in Libya in 2012. Al Megrahi has long pleaded not guilty.
