Lockerbie bomb suspect in US custody was ‘abducted from home’ by warlord

Mohammed Abouagela Masud accused by US of having set timer for bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in 1988

A former Libyan intelligence operative accused of preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 was taken into US custody after being abducted from his home by a notorious warlord and then detained by armed militia for two weeks, the Guardian has been told.

Mohammed Abouagela Masud appeared briefly in court in Washington DC on Monday, accused of having set the timer for the bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in the most deadly terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil.