Lockerbie, 20 Years Later

Ceremonies were held today in Lockerbie, Scotland, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which exploded over the small town as the plane was headed from Heathrow to New York on Dec. 21, 1988. From the Associated Press:

"More than 150 people attended a wreath-laying ceremony Sunday at Lockerbie's Dryfesdale Cemetery, which has a memorial stone for those who died.

Two churches in the area held services to coincide with the moment the plane came down, just after 1900GMT on Dec. 21 1988. Services are also being held at Heathrow Airport in London and in the United States.

All 259 people on board the flight from Heathrow to New York were killed when a bomb exploded on the plane as it flew over Lockerbie. Another 11 people died on the ground.

Libyan secret agent Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi is the sole person to have been convicted of the bombing, but he has won the right to appeal against his January 2001 conviction by successfully convincing judges that a 'miscarriage of justice' may have occurred during his trial."

This year marked the completion of billions of dollars in reparation payments from Libya to the victims' families, paving the way for the normalizing of relations between Libya and the Western world. Unfortunately, other terrorists have picked up where the Libyans left off, as we witnessed when more planes came down in 2001.

CNN has a good archive for those wanting to learn more about what happened at Lockerbie.

(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)