All language subtitles for Lockerbie.The.Bombing.of.Pan.Am.103.S01E04.1080p.WEBRip.x264-BAE_track3_[eng]

This is dark elegy,

Which I consider the
most important work of my life.

Over time, it occurred to me

What a magnificent thing
it would be

If as many of the mothers
would participate

In portraying themselves
at the moment

That they learned of
their loved one's death.

[screaming and wailing]

My baby!

[sobbing]

Suse: There is a hole
in a mother's heart

When her child is gone.

Because they are part of
our physical being.

If it's a war, or if it's pan am
103, or if it's September 11,

The picture, the aftermath,
is always the same.

This.

Reporter: Pan am flight 103
crashed

Into the scottish village
of lockerbie.

Two hundred and seventy people,
most of them americans, dead.

It was the worst terrorist
attack on an airline ever.

Reagan: We have no knowledge
of how this happened.

We're trying to find out.

Man 1: It was an attack
on america.

Man 2: The largest crime scene
in history.

Man 3: Two-hundred-thousand
pieces of evidence.

Man 4: My daughter hadn't
just died in an accident,

But been brutally murdered.

Man 5: They killed our children.

Man 6: To be lied to
for 30 years.

Man 7: I think the us government
had an agenda.

Reagan is the biggest terrorist
in the world.

Woman 1: If it's up to
our government,

We might not ever know
the truth.

Man 8: Nothing is what it seems
in the lockerbie story.

This particular phase
of our search for the truth

Is almost complete.

That is a tremendous relief,
and that's the upside

Of the decision by the judges

To deliver their verdict
so soon.

Reporter: The court that has
heard 84 days

And three million words
of evidence

Is ready for the final day

Of britain's biggest
mass murder trial.

Reporter 2: Abdelbaset ali
al-megrahi, 48,

And lamin khalifah fhimah, 44,

Were both accused
of planting the fatal bomb,

In a series of luggage
transfers.

The prosecution,
over nine months,

Called over 200 witnesses,
with 10,000 pages of testimony,

Pressing its case that these
men were libyan terrorists.

The evidence, even though it
was circumstantial,

We thought it was
very convincing.

(siren wails)

The key issues in evidence were
mr megrahi's role

In the security services
in libya.

His use of false identities.

And his presence
in the airport in malta,

The morning that the suitcase
containing the bomb

Was ingested on the flight.

And mr megrahi's connections
with mr bollier,

The owner of mebo ltd.

Who, the court concluded,

Had manufactured the timing
device that detonated the bomb.

Phil: As far as fhimah
was concerned,

He was the libyan arab airlines
manager in malta.

Fhimah supposedly provided him
with a luggage tag,

That megrahi put on a suitcase
aboard a flight to frankfurt,

To go on to london
and pan am 103.

Megrahi couldn't have got
that suitcase into the system

Without fhimah's help.

Reporter: The prosecution admits

Its case is entirely
circumstantial,

But claims it is tight enough

To prove murder beyond
reasonable doubt.

Nic: However, some of
the evidence was contentious.

Bollier appeared to recant
his previous testimony.

Now he's not so sure

A fragment of circuit board
was from the timers

He said he sold to the libyan
intelligence service.

He just seemed untrustworthy.

Tony gauci, the man who had
a clothing store in malta,

Is significant,
because he is the one

Who can identify megrahi.

But he had changing
recollections of the suspect.

His testimony
just didn't seem to stand up.

Phil: But we also came up with
critical evidence

From a double agent
working at the airport.

Reporter: Abdul majid giaka
is the super-grass

Billed as the lockerbie trial's
star witness.

Abdul majid told the court

How libyan intelligence
planned the bombing,

And that the two accused
were fully involved.

Today, he was a poor witness
for the prosecution.

I remember there being
quite a laugh

Amongst the people that were
watching the evidence.

Just because he was just so...

He just seemed to be crazy.

It like just watching
a fantasist

Being given 20 minutes
to speak in an uncontrolled way

About their fantasies.

The lack of credible evidence

Was what converted me
to realizing

The two accused men

Clearly could've had nothing
to do with it.

Suse: I felt very apprehensive
before the verdict.

But based on the evidence
I heard,

I believed
we had the right guys.

We waited for the judges
to come onto the bench

To deliver their... Verdict

And we had absolutely no idea
what was gonna happen.

I believed the evidence, in its
totality, made it so compelling.

Even though there was
no smoking gun.

I can remember holding
phil reid's hand.

We were sitting next to each
other and I can remember just...

We probably squeezed each other
extra hard.

Reporter: At 11am,
the judges in their robes

Sat behind the bench.

As they pronounced abdelbaset
al-megrahi guilty of murder,

There was a sudden gasp.

Then, as they announced
lamin fhimah was not guilty,

A second gasp.

I thought they would both
be sent home not-guilty.

The shock of the verdict
initially, was so great,

I collapsed.

Reporter: Many people
are left to wonder,

How one of the accused could be
guilty and the other not.

Fhimah's lawyer declared
there was no evidence

He was at malta airport

On the day the bomb
was allegedly loaded,

And still less that he was aware
of being part of a bomb plot.

The judges apparently agreed.

It seemed odd -
the case was against both men -

That one of them should not be
proven to have been involved.

I think that shocked
a lot of people.

My heart broke

When mr fhimah was allowed to
leave the courtroom,

Because clearly that bomb could
not have gotten on the plane

Without his assistance.

And in the case of megrahi,
the judges obviously felt

That despite some of the
inconsistencies in the evidence,

He could still be convicted.

Reporter: It's been a day of
conflicting emotions.

Delight, at seeing
at least one conviction,

But anger that the sentence
isn't longer.

It was such a short sentence,

Because a life sentence
in scotland is 20 years.

And it's 20 years for
all of your victims,

So we were horrified that this
was supposed to bring justice

To... To our loved ones.

Nic: The verdict had a whiff of
diplomatic compromise about it.

That's the taint

That hangs over everyone's minds
about this case.

By finding megrahi guilty,

We believed
that vindicated our findings

That this was a libyan
government operation.

This, to me, meant this was
ordered by gaddafi.

Even though that never
came to court, it vindicated us.

Reporter: This evening,
khalifa fhimah headed for libya.

Al-megrahi stayed behind bars.

And the quest for the truth
goes on.

John: This case
is very polarized.

I worked as a researcher
with megrahi's lawyers.

I've been involved in the case
for about 30 years.

There's very much two
different camps.

One camp believes
that justice was done

At camp zeist,

To the extent that megrahi
was convicted.

And then there are others
who are very skeptical

Of the megrahi conviction.

In fact, believe that he was
wrongly convicted

And believe that the suspects
actually lie outside of libya,

In iran and a radical
palestinian group.

Interviewer: Do you feel
megrahi is guilty?

That's a re...

That's a very difficult question
to answer.

I have a lot of unease

About information
that I know is out there

But I'm not able
to get sight of it

For reasons
of national security.

Until access to those can
be gained,

I think the controversy
will continue.

So, for many people

After the trial there are even
more questions,

Rather than less.

(church bell tolls)

Interviewer this is the infamous
filing cabinet

You were talking about?

That's the infamous
filing cabinet.

It's all full of
lockerbie stuff.

-So, this is 35 years of work?
-Yes.

Sadly, many of the people
who've helped so much

Over those 35 years
are no longer with us.

The fbi and america said
publicly,

That there could have been no
case brought against the libyans

Had it not been for
a fragment of circuit board

That was recovered
from the wreckage.

Pt/35(b) was discovered
in the scattered debris

Quite some time after pan am 103
came down,

And quite a long distance
from lockerbie.

For a lot of people, that
already flagged question marks

About its provenance.

When I was working on
the megrahi appeal

As a researcher,

I developed the evidence
on the circuit board,

I spoke to the relevant experts.

There are a number of anomalies
concerning pt/35(b),

Concerning its provenance,

That strongly suggest
that it was a plant.

Pt/35(b) is a perfect
optical copy

Of a mebo circuit board,

But it was made by
a different technology.

The copper was coated with pure
tin, not with tin/lead mixture.

We have material prepared by

Bona-fide academic
institutions, two of them,

Who reviewed
the technology used

To make the fragment called
pt35(b),

And they confirmed that it was
plated with pure tin

Not with tin/lead mixture.

And therefore, if it was made in
any commercial enterprise at all

Must have been made after 1988.

Nobody in the industry
was using pure tin back in '88.

So, do you believe that
pt/35(b) is a fake?

Yes.

Interviewer: Who planted it?

I don't know.

That piece of evidence has been
under scrutiny by the trial,

By the criminal cases review
commission

On a number of occasions,

And the conclusion at the end
is that there is not any weight

To attach to the conspiracy
theories

Around the fragment
having been planted.

We all have a set of beliefs

Based on our observations
of the available evidence.

And people reach
different conclusions

On the basis of that.

If you're looking for a clean
answer, you're not gonna get it.

It's not gonna get tied up
in a nice little bow.

There are people that doubt
what, I think, the facts are,

And they don't wanna believe

That anybody in government
can tell the truth.

And I will say this - the people
who worked on this case,

Top to bottom,
were honest, forthright,

Believe in justice,
wanted to do the right thing.

Jim: The key item, upon
which the whole case depends,

Is not correct.

The evidence that was used in
the court to convict a libyan

Was, in fact, false.

Suse: We became very friendly
with jim.

Then, at some point,
jim veered off into a direction

That we couldn't agree with.

He believed that the truth
is not known,

And we feel that the truth
has become known.

So, that kind of
brought us apart.

Yeah.

Obviously, we are all entitled
to our beliefs,

But we don't necessarily
share them.

I am 100% convinced

Pan am 103
was brought down by a timer

.Built in a shop in zurich,
switzerland, by mebo.

Absolutely convinced of that.

Edwin bollier suggested that I
offered him $4 million and-

Interviewer: Did you?
-No. God, no.

Initially he said a man by the
name of buck revell

Offered it to him.

He never met buck revell.

All of a sudden, he remembers he
met me,

So I offered him the money.

No, I did not offer him
one cent.

The only thing I can tell you
that I did tell him,

"you need to tell us everything
you know.

"you need to tell the truth."

That's the problem.
His story kept changing.

It changed at the trial, and
it's changed subsequent to that.

John: Edwin bollier is someone

Who's shrouded
in a lot of mystery.

We've never known which side of
the fence he's playing.

Probably both.

Dick: I can remember, mr.
Megrahi has an office in mebo.

Ok, that's another
circumstance.

All the circumstances, to me,
amount to a pile, a big pile.

I have the three white roses,

For christopher, matthew
and ashley.

And my red rose, as always.

If john had to
fall out of the sky,

This couldn't have been a better
place for him to come down.

He was a very proud american,
of scottish descent.

Interviewer: Do you ever find
yourself

Looking over to the field?

Oh, yes. Yes, because
that's where john died.

He was... He was in
the nose cone of the plane.

You know, through the years
you don't get over...

..A loss of this type
or this magnitude.

You just learn
how to live with it.

And knowing that
he is where he is,

Here at tundergarth in scotland,

Among this most beautiful
countryside and setting,

You know, it's such a peaceful
and serene place.

When I got john back
and I viewed him,

I promised to him that I would
try to find out who did this

And hold people accountable,

Because I know that if I had
been on that flight,

He would've done
the same thing.

When al-megrahi was found
guilty, as a libyan official,

Of bringing down pan am 103...

..The libyans created
a no-fault settlement offer,

Saying that libya
was not taking responsibility,

But was offering $10 million.

And that the family members
had to sign off

On ever trying to pursue libya
ever again.

Interviewer: Does libya accept
responsibility

For the attack on lockerbie?

So, to be very clear on this,
what you're saying is

That you accept responsibility,

But you're not admitting
that you did it?

Of course.

I felt that if libya didn't do
it, they didn't owe me a penny.

And if they did do it, they
shouldn't be forcing us

To sign a
no-fault settlement deal.

Some of the families
of the victims

Wanted gaddafi to be on trial at
camp zeist in the netherlands.

So, the idea that muammar
gaddafi could later come round

And dictate terms to them,

Yeah, that's gonna stick
in people's throats.

Interviewer: There are people
who'd say,

"if libya had nothing to do
with bombing pan am 103,

Why did they pay
all this compensation?"

I think that's a question
that's fairly easily answered.

Gaddafi's son, saif gaddafi,
told me,

"yeah, we've decided to pay
compensation

"because that's the only way
we can get the ball rolling

"and get our oil industry
back on stream

"and get the money
coming in again."

John: Libya desperately wanted
and needed

To get its relationship
with the west back on track.

In order to do that,
they had to admit responsibility

For the bombing,
whether or not they did it,

And pay compensation,
whether or not they did it.

Whichever camp you fall into,

Whether you believe
the libyan's did it, or not,

You've always been thwarted
by politics.

Nic: Britain's needs of libya
and access to oil revenues

Were greater
than the united states.

They didn't need to make
the compromises

The british government were,
it appears, prepared to do.

Prime minister tony blair
met with muammar gaddafi,

And during this meeting there
were two documents signed.

One was a very large
british petroleum deal.

And the second was
a prisoner transfer agreement.

In libya,
there were no uk prisoners,

And there was only one libyan
prisoner in all of the uk.

Al-megrahi.

John: Megrahi was diagnosed
with terminal cancer in 2008.

At that point, a lot was
going on in the background.

Tony blair had done his deal
in the desert a year earlier.

There was a very strong push to
normalize relations with libya.

And as far as the libyans
were concerned,

If they were gonna do any deal
about oil,

That deal had to involve
megrahi coming home.

We have been in contact
with the scottish government,

Indicating that we objected
to this.

We thought it was a mistake.

We're now in contact
with the libyan government,

And want to make sure
that he's not welcomed back.

Interviewer: How did you feel
when megrahi was released?

Pissed.

And I'd had nothing to drink.
I was angry.

I'm not a big believer
in the death penalty,

But I think you need to sit
in prison the rest of your life

And think about what you did.

Reporter: Abdulbasset al-megrahi
had been sentenced to life,

But because he has cancer

And is believed to have
only three months to live,

He was released
and returned to libya today.

To me, I thought, "well, I guess
this is scottish justice

And everything."

But I found that all um...

..Pretty appalling.

Reporter: Hundreds of people
were bussed in for the event.

Scottish flags were provided.

It was a decision taken by
the scottish legal system,

But it's clear, the return of
the bomber suits many people.

Out of all the things that have
happened

Since December 21st, 1988,

I would say megrahi's release

Was probably
one of the hardest things.

It really made me know for sure,
for the rest of my life,

That there is no justice.

Because I knew he was innocent,
I wanted him to go home,

So he could die with his family.

His release
on compassionate leave

Was very hard to stomach,

Because my father

And none of the people
on the plane or on the ground

Had been treated
with any compassion.

So, it was a very, very
difficult moment.

Suse: Why was he let go?

The answer simply is so that
the uk can go and drill for oil.

I mean, thousands and thousands
of people

Die in prison of cancer.

It was tit for tat.

Jim: I think I know
who was responsible

For killing my daughter, flora.

And the truth is, actually,
very simple.

But the consequences of
trying to conceal the truth

Are incredibly complex.

I think she was killed
by a bomb

Which was ordained by
the iranian authorities.

Man: It's coming inbound, fast!

Jim: The motive they had

Was that they had
had an airbus destroyed

By an american missile.

290 people killed.

And therefore they were lusting
for revenge.

(indistinct chanting)

Nic: Where was iran's revenge
for that?

Does iran not revenge
every attack?

John: I have no doubt
it was iran.

I won't say the iranians

Personally went and blew up
pan am.

They used the pflp-gc,
one of their client states.

We knew the iranians were
behind

All the american and british
hostages in lebanon.

They'd been held for
the last eight years or more.

I worked on it.
I was in lebanon.

I worked on that case.

(cheering and whistling)

I think we cut a deal
with iran and said,

"you give us back
all the hostages,

"we will drop the focus on you
for pan am."

'cause we knew we were guilty,
why the iranians did it.

They did it in retaliation for
us killing 250 of their people.

"so, we'll go after libya,

'cause we always wanted
to go after libya."

I'm not defending gaddafi.

I'm not saying
he's a clean character.

He's got a lot of blood
on his hands.

But not the pan am blood.

This was state-sponsored
terrorism.

That's the only thing we
definitely know about lockerbie.

But the full extent of that
state-sponsored terrorism

Remains under a veil of
secrecy.

I believe, as a libyan citizen,

That megrahi was used...

..On behalf of gaddafi,

To take part
in that horrendous crime,

But play a small part.

I think it was
a three-way operation.

Iran paid the money.

The fringe palestinian group
in syria

Provided the technology
and the planning.

And I think gaddafi provided
the facilitation

To use the malta route.

Nic: It is not inconceivable.

I mean, look at the terrorist
contacts gaddafi had established

That could have allowed
something like that to happen.

Maybe he wanted to ingratiate
himself with the iranians.

It's not impossible
that this is the case.

But we don't have evidence
to show it.

The lockerbie disaster

Was probably closest, out of
any other sort of legal event,

To the assassination
of john kennedy.

Because the questions over jfk's
death have never been answered.

And indeed,
the individual that's presented

As having caused this,
caused the death,

For many people, they're a small
pin in a much bigger picture.

Interviewer: So, megrahi's
the lee harvey oswald?

Yeah.

Nic: We found
abdulbasset al-megrahi's villa

In an upmarket part of town.

We're gonna knock on the door,
see if we can get any answer.

I saw him on his deathbed
in tripoli,

And he was hooked up to oxygen.

The family passionately telling
you he wasn't responsible.

But part of you feels,
"surely this must be true?"

But the circumstantial evidence
speaks very strongly

For his involvement.

And the libyan government's
willingness to sacrifice him?

Absolutely.

(church bell tolls)

Newsreader: A major breakthrough

In the decades-long
investigation

Into the bombing
of pan am flight 103.

The man accused of making
the explosive device

Is now in us custody...

Reporter: The man accused
of building the bomb

That blew up pan am flight 103
over lockerbie, scotland,

In 1988,

Making his first appearance
in a us court.

Interviewer: What do you make of
the latest development

-In the story?
Dick: Mr. Masud?

We got his name about the same
time as we got megrahi's name

From the cia.

Masud allegedly was a long-time
libyan intelligence officer,

Who had the skill-set
to build the bomb

That brought down pan am 103.

There's also evidence that
locates him in malta airport

On the day when the bomb
was placed on the aircraft.

When the scottish police
went to libya in 1999,

They asked questions.

"we wanna see the passport
records for megrahi.

"we want fhimah.
We want masud."

"we don't know who masud is.

"can't identify him.
Don't know who he is."

Then, years later,

Masud confessed
to a libyan police officer

That he built pan am 103 bomb
and put it on the plane,

Along with fhimah and megrahi.

But masud's confession

Is probably not worth the paper
it was written on

Because it was given to
libyan security forces.

After the downfall of gaddafi,
they were effectively militias.

This was not a confession that
was given under circumstances

That would give you confidence
in its authenticity.

The us apprehension and arrest
of libyan terrorist suspect

Abu agila mohammad masud

Is the first tangible step made
by the us department of justice

In 34 years

To hold any suspect accountable
in us courts.

After 35 years, it's like, I
have friends that actually say,

"when is it gonna end?"
I say, "it never ends."

Suse: He was the bomb maker,
so he was part of the puzzle.

We have him, so try him.

And I hope we have a different
experience in trying him

And incarcerating him,

And keeping him there.

(sirens wail)

Nic: Lockerbie was
a huge tragedy.

Nothing had happened
on a scale like this before.

The biggest terrorist attack
in the skies,

Targeting mostly americans.

This was unimaginable
back in the late '80s.

Terrorism had just not reached
that type of level.

When you've seen the aftermath
of something like that,

You just can't get it
out of your head.

I was terrified
every time I got on a plane.

It was a constant
and real threat.

Pan am 103 was one of those
terrorist attacks

On commercial aviation

That drove pan am,
pan american airways,

The stellar carrier
in the united states,

Drove it out of business.

Nic: This was a wake-up call
about the new terrorism

That was on the horizon.

It made people realize

That perhaps their lives
weren't as safe

As they thought they were.

It wasn't long until 9/11.

They were proven right.

(siren blares)

The level of terrorism
that the world faces today

Is quantifiably much greater.

It's not going away.

(gunfire)

After 20 years
of the war on terror,

There are at least five times
as many

Salafi jihadi terrorist groups

On the
us state department's list

Than there were
on September 12th, 2001.

Interviewer: Do we reap
what we sow as the west,

Meddling in
these other countries?

We have to understand,
just like in physics,

Every action has a reaction.

Everything we do to counter
terrorism is not game over,

It's just another move
on the chess board.

Interviewer: The last time we
were here, we talked about

He body that you found,
still in his seat...

-Yes.
-..In the field over there.

Hugh, you talked about

How you guys developed
a relationship with him.

Right from the start, I think.

We called him "our boy",
you know?

Margaret: 'cause he just looked
so young.

You know, we felt responsible
for him, really,

And we knew there'd be
relatives somewhere

Saddened by what had happened.

Interviewer: But you did
eventually find out, didn't you?

Yes. It took quite a while.

Interview: And what was
his name?

Frank ciulla. Yeah.

As I say, we thought
he was just a boy.

But he was actually 40, I think.

Margaret: Forty-five.

And there was a wife,
called mary lou.

Hugh: We were just
keeping hoping

They would come, you know?

And then it was arranged she
was coming for these ashes,

And that would be
her first visit.

Interviewer: So how often
have you kept in contact

Over the last 30 years?

Margaret: All the time.

Mary lou always felt

It was such a beautiful place
for frank to fall.

I don't know what she'll think
today, mind you!

(laughs)

She's never been here
on a day like this!

(laughs)

(thunder rumbles)

It's cleared a bit,
right enough.

Mary lou: Hi!
Margaret: Hello!

Oh, great.

I was just saying, I have to
show you...

Good to see you.

I have to show you all the
pictures from the last few days.

We've had a busy...
Oh, yes! Yes.

..A busy few days.

-Where have you been?
-How you doing?

Good.

Interviewer: Tell me, you guys
have obviously

Built this relationship now,

But what was it like
the first time you came here?

When I first met them, I felt
like I knew them already.

I mean, really.

They were warm
and we hugged and it was ok.

What happened felt so inhumane

And felt so violent and...
Horrific.

-Oh, it was.
-And it was. It was.

But then, coming here
and seeing this,

Like, other side of the story,
the humanity came back.

I felt that he was alone
somewhere

And yet, when I came here,
he wasn't alone.

So, that kind of really
helped me a lot

'cause he was with them.

I was a different person
when I came

And a different person
when I left.

Mine was actually, and I don't
even know how to say it,

"a nice story".

I just will never forget
how you walked to the spot.

You were so confident where
to go and it was that, like,

Feeling like how important
that place was for you too...

Yeah.

..And the spot
where his life ended.

Like, that's a major part
of the story.

And we know
where he came to this earth,

Where he was found
and we can stand there.

It's like... It's stunning.

Suse: They all have their own
very important story to tell.

It took me 15 years.

This is my contribution

To keeping the memory
of what was lost alive.

Because as long as this exists
and people see it,

Pan am 103
will not be forgotten.

Lucas: I want so desperately
to help alex live on,

Because what happened to him
is so unfair.

The fact that I see him
in one of my kids

Really brings great pleasure
to me.

And uh...

My youngest son is named alex,
also.

And so it's his namesake.

It's nice.

It's very nice.

This is john's boarding pass.

It says pam am 103,
21st December.

His seat was 3a.

I always felt guilty
that I didn't go with him,

Because I... I thought that
maybe if we had gone,

We would have come back
the following day together.

But then again, who knows,
right?

Who knows?

Jim: It's a lovely spot.

It looks out over the sea.

My father and my mother's graves
are here,

And a memorial to poor flora...

..Facing theirs.

Interviewer: You've spent
the last 35 years living this.

-No regrets doing that?
Jim: Infinite regrets.

The only regret that really
matters, of course,

Is the loss of flora.

We are left
with a legacy of loss,

But also of good memories

Of a beautiful
and beloved child.