CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th November, 2021) Libya's Presidency Council has relieved Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush from her duties, spokeswoman Najwa Wahiba confirmed to Sputnik on Saturday.
"Libya's Presidency Council dismissed Najla Mangoush as Foreign Minister over her statements on the Lockerbie case," Wahiba said.
The minister has been suspended "for the duration of the official investigation against her," according to the spokeswoman.
Pan Am flight 103 from Frankfurt to Detroit was destroyed by a bomb as it flew over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988. The attack claimed 270 lives, including 11 people on the ground, becoming the deadliest terror attack on the UK soil. Ex-Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Megrahi was the only person officially convicted in the case and sentenced to life in jail, until he was released to die at home with terminal disease. He maintained his innocence until the end.
Over the years, the US and other countries raised suspicions that Libyan top leadership at the time may have been involved in the attack. In particular, Washington claimed that another intelligence officer and top bomb-maker under former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Abu Agila Mohammed Masud, helped Megrahi with the preparations.
Last week, Mangoush told the media that Libya was ready to cooperate with the US on extraditing Masud and said she expected "positive outcomes" in the case.
