Brother of man killed on Pan Am 103 issues powerful plea to Biden: 'Don't deflect this'
Brother of a man killed on Pan Am 103, Bert Ammerman, reacts to news of the Lockerbie bomb-making suspect being taken into U.S. custody.
As this year marks the 34th anniversary of the unsolved 1988 Lockerbie bombing that tragically claimed the lives of 270 people, the Justice Department announced Sunday that they have taken the suspected bomb-maker into U.S. custody.
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In the wake of the news, the brother of a Pan Am flight 103 victim, Bert Ammerman, issued a direct plea to the Biden administration on ‘Fox News Live,’ Sunday, calling for the president to "lay out" a specific plan to the American public about future national security implications and to find out whether Iran is involved in this "cowardly act."
"If there's a connection to Iran, Mr. President, let us not keep that quiet. You were a senator in 1988. You know this story more than anyone else. And I do believe you should come out in front of the American public, specifically sometime today, and lay out a specific plan. Not to say, 'that I'm happy that we followed through. We kept our promise.' What is happening next, and what would be the results if Iran is implicated?" Ammerman stated to Fox News' Eric Shawn.
In this Dec 22, 1988 file photo, police and investigators look at what remains of the flight deck of Pan Am 103 in a field in Lockerbie, Scotland. (AP)
Pan Am flight 103, traveling from London to New York, exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988.
In the winter of 1988, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was directed by a Libyan intelligence official to fly to Malta with a bomb disguised in a suitcase that would later explode on board Pan Am Flight 103, killing a total of 270 people - 190 of which were American citizens.
According to the Justice Department, Mas'ud set a timer so that the bomb would explode aboard the flight the next day and transported it to the airport, where he handed it off to a co-conspirator who placed the bomb on a conveyer belt bound for the plane.
It remains the deadliest terror attack on British soil.
Former assistant FBI director Chris Swecker reinforced Ammerman's push for the Biden administration to recalibrate its focus onto international terrorism, arguing that he fears the U.S. has "taken [their] eye off the ball."
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"It was an attempt to start a revolution, if you will, by Gaddafi. He had it in for the United States. But this type of terrorism hasn't gone away," Swecker told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend,’ Sunday.
"I think this is a reminder that we need to make sure that we keep our eye on that. With all the so-called domestic terrorism going on. Now, international terrorism like this is still out there. They have long memories."
FILE PHOTO DEC 88 - Crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie Scotland after a mid-air bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground. Picture taken December 23, 1988. GB/ - RP1DRIGJUZAB (Reuters)
Ammerman expressed frustration for the 34-year-long stalemate investigation, saying that the lack of immediate retaliation has reinforced beliefs that the United States is "soft" on state-sponsored terrorism. He went so far as to say that if the United States had properly taken care of the situation, "we might not have had 9/11."
"Former Attorney General [Bill] Barr made a very important comment that most people didn't pick up on," Ammerman began.
"[Barr said] let's make no mistake about this. This was an attack on the United States. Well, I said that to Bush 41 on April 3rd, 1989, when I met with him for 90 minutes in the Oval Office. And he said to me, if this is state-sponsored terrorism, we will retaliate militarily"
"I believe if we had handled this appropriately then, we might not have had 9/11, because what we showed the world back in Pan Am Flight 103 is that America was soft on state-sponsored terrorism," he added.
FILE - Attorney General Bill Barr waits before President Trump signs an executive order about social media in the Oval Office of the White House on May, 28, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
"So I want to find the truth, and I think this is a step forward, but it's more than just Libya…"
"There is no question, Eric, in my mind, that Iran was involved. And if we had used intelligence information all along, we would have come to this conclusion years ago," Ammerman stressed.
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Fox News David Spunt and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report