A Libyan man charged with making a bomb in the terrorist attack that took down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 — killing 270 people — is in United States custody, the Justice Department announced Sunday.

Abu Agila Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi allegedly made the explosive that brought the airliner down as it traveled from London to New York.

The explosion over Lockerbie killed 259 people in the air, as well as 11 on the ground, officials say. The victims included 190 Americans, 35 of whom were Syracuse University students returning home for Christmas after studying abroad.

Mas’ud faces two criminal charges, which were announced in 2020. He will appear in a Washington federal court, the Justice Department said.

“The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect is in U.S. custody,” the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of Scotland said Sunday.

Mas’ud was said to be kidnapped in Tripoli, Libya, last month by armed men, according to local news outlets. Those reports emerged a year after Najla Mangoush, Libya’s minister of foreign affairs, told the BBC his government was “very open in terms of collaboration” for Mas’ud to be extradited.

The Justice Department didn’t specify Sunday how Mas’ud arrived in U.S. custody.

The U.S. previously charged fellow Libyan intelligence officers Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah in 1991 in connection with the explosion. Neither has faced those charges in a U.S. court, however.

In a 2012 interview with Libyan authorities, Mas’ud claimed to deliver the bomb in a suitcase during a meeting with al-Megrahi and Fhimah, with the explosive set to detonate in 11 hours, according to an FBI affidavit.

Fhimah was acquitted by a panel of Scottish judges in the Netherlands, while the panel sentenced al-Megrahi to life imprisonment in 2001. He was released in 2009 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Tripoli in 2012.

“Scottish prosecutors and police, working with U.K. government and U.S. colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with al-Megrahi to justice,” Scotland’s Crown Office said Sunday.

The fatalities from the plane explosion included people from 21 different countries, according to officials.

Former Attorney General William Barr announced Mas’ud’s charges on Dec. 21, 2020 — 32 years to the day of the attack.

“At long last, this man responsible for killing Americans and many others will be subject to justice for his crimes,” Barr said at the time.

The Syracuse University community welcomed Sunday’s developments.

“Today’s news is a significant milestone in a decades-long process to bring those responsible for this despicable act to justice,” Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement.

“The Syracuse University community stands with all the victims’ families, friends and loved ones who have continued to seek justice for more than three decades,” he added. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to remember, honor and reflect on the legacy of the lives lost.”

Kara Weipz, head of the group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, expressed gratitude that Mas’ud was finally in U.S. custody.

“This is what we’ve been fighting for,” she told Politico. ““Not that this is over by any stretch, but it’s a great first step.”

With News Wire Services