Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (2025) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
The following programme contains
distressing scenes.
Go and have the time of your life.
WILL: A newsflash.
Plane's gone down.
- Murray Guthrie.
- Jim Swire.
Full disclosure, I'm a journalist.
They say in the press it may have
been Iran, revenge attack.
Anonymous phone call
made to the US Embassy.
Embassy dismissed it as a hoax.
Your government knew. They all knew.
JANE: I have nightmares.
Was our daughter conscious
as she fell through the sky?
How did a bomb get through airport
security and onto Flight 103?
Why is there so much secrecy
around this?
Are we ever going to know
what really happened?
I will never stop. Not until
we know the answer to everything.
JIM: (ON VOICEMAIL)
You've reached the Swire household.
We're not home to take
your call at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you. (BEEP)
Oh, hi, Jim. Murray here.
I hope you're sitting down,
because I've just heard Thatcher's
ordered an independent inquiry
into the Strangeways Prison riot.
Sum total of deaths, two.
So we now have inquiries into
the Clapham Junction crash, 35 deaths,
the King's Cross fire, 31 deaths,
and the Piper Alpha disaster,
167 deaths.
But bugger all for Lockerbie.
Bugger all for 270 dead.
I mean (CHUCKLES INCREDULOUSLY)
what is it with these people?
What the hell do you have to do to
make them sit up and take notice?
Actually get off their arses
and do something?
What is it they're hiding?
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
What's going on?
Security spot checks on luggage.
- Am I OK to look inside?
- Yes.
Where are you flying to, sir?
Boston, via JFK.
Have you taken the batteries out, sir?
We have new safety rules.
Yes. Yeah, I have. Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Have a safe flight.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
- Sorry. Sorry, the traffic.
- Hello, darling.
- Don't worry. How are you?
- Good. How are you?
(CHUCKLES) Good.
Oh, it was a gift.
Flora's boyfriend's father
painted it and sent it over for us.
He's really caught her,
don't you think?
You don't think there's
enough reminders?
It's not Flora.
Dad made it to the airport alright?
Oh-Oh, yeah.
Did you get any sleep last night?
- (SNIFFLES)
- Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
Sit down and put your feet up.
I'll take those bags upstairs,
then I'll make us some tea.
OK?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(HIGH-PITCHED RINGING)
(EXPLOSION)
(ALL SCREAMING)
(WIND RUSHING)
(SCREAMS, PANTS)
You OK?
Mum, please. Will you go
and speak to someone?
It's OK. I'm fine.
I'm fine, Cathy. I'm fine.
It's fine.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS CONTINUE)
(DOG SNIFFS)
Hello, Jim.
It's good to see you.
Everyone's excited
to finally meet you in person.
My very own homemade version
of the bomb
which blew up Flight 103.
You brought that with you on a plane?
Is that Semtex?
A very pliable,
odourless plastic explosive
favoured by paramilitary groups
and terrorists.
I used marzipan.
Jim, I'm sorry.
Are you out of your mind?
How many times have we been told
airport security has improved,
that a bomb would never get
onto a plane nowadays?
Yeah sure, but is this
the way to call them out?
A security officer at Heathrow
picked it up, looked at it,
and wished me a safe onward journey.
I got through three sets
of security checks to get here
via JFK. I wasn't stopped once.
Now, I'm sorry
if this upsets some of you.
I wanted it to be impossible
for me to do this, believe me.
The fact is, it wasn't.
And people need to know.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(ALL CLAMOURING)
REPORTER: Did you know
about the fake bomb?
Do you agree with
what your father's done?
Incredible, audacious,
an act of gross stupidity.
Just some of the reactions
to Dr Jim Swire,
spokesman for UK Families Flight 103.
Why? Because he built
a fake bomb in his home
- and carried it in a suitcase
- Did you know about this?
- on a flight from London to New York.
- No.
The same route on which his daughter,
Flora, was killed.
If I was a terrorist, another plane
would have been blown out of the sky.
Hundreds more innocent people
would have been murdered.
NEWSCASTER: 24 hours since touching
down in the US, Dr Swire has-
The Midlands doctor, whose daughter
died in the Lockerbie plane bomb-
I cannot stress strongly enough
this government's determination
to enforce the highest standards
of aviation security.
And we will be speaking to
Dr Swire on his return to the UK.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
(INAUDIBLE)
Finally.
Questioned. Given a verbal warning.
"Bad boy, don't do it again."
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry.
What hurts the most
is being kept in the dark.
I didn't want to get you involved.
(SIGHS)
There were press people outside,
Jim, dozens of them.
We hadn't a clue what was going on.
And what if you had been arrested,
here or in America?
Wh-Wh-What would I have done?
And the kids.
Did you think about any of us?
- Did Murray put you up to this?
- No.
No, all my own doing.
Is that why you've been shut up
in your study all this time?
You've barely spoken a word to us.
Spineless government
hiding behind secrets,
criminal investigation taking forever.
I just wanted to make some noise.
- Do something.
- You are doing something.
You're constantly giving interviews,
writing letters.
- Howling at the moon.
- No. No, Jim. That's not true.
This will cause consternation
and tutting for a few days,
then it will all go quiet again.
I should have told you.
It was wrong of me.
It's all for her.
You haven't stopped since she died.
What else can I do?
For now
take a step back.
You have me
you have two other children.
Be with us.
(GENTLE VIOLIN MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOMBRE VIOLIN MUSIC)
Good to be back.
(CHUCKLES)
(JIM CLEARS THROAT)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
Here it goes.
- Thanks, darling.
- You're going down.
Ready?
- Steady.
- Go!
What? No!
(LAUGHTER)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTS)
No, no! No, no!
Get behind me.
(LAUGHTER)
(CAMERA REEL WHIRRING)
(MELANCHOLIC PIANO MUSIC)
(PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FADES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Thanks, Dad.
(DISTANT PATRONS APPLAUDING)
(INAUDIBLE TV CHATTER)
NEWSCASTER: Now, three years later,
two suspects have finally
been identified.
Their names announced earlier today
by Scotland's Lord Advocate,
Peter Fraser.
FRASER: And yesterday,
Mr McDougall obtained
from him the grant of warrants
for the arrest of two
Libyan nationals
- Libya? I thought Iran did it?
- on charges of conspiracy,
murder and contravention
of the Aviation Security Act of 1982.
The two accused are
Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi
and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah.
- Both accused are believed
- They did it
to be in Libya.
The warrants will be
- circulated to Interpol
- They got them.
but it is considered unlikely
that they will be arrested.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(HORN HONKING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(DOG BARKING)
(LOCK CLICKS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(INDISTINCT TV CHATTER)
(DISHES CLATTERING)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(SOFT MUSIC)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
So I've gone through the indictment
and set it out in layman's terms,
together with some of the other
information that we have.
As we know, the bomb
hand-built presumably,
was hidden inside a Toshiba BomBeat
radio-cassette recorder
and placed amongst
articles of clothing
inside a brown Samsonite suitcase.
Now, we know this because
blast-charred fragments
of clothing and suitcase were found
by search teams in Lockerbie
and forensically examined
by the Royal Armament Research
and Development Establishment.
Now at the same time,
a baggage record from Frankfurt
was turned over to Scottish police.
It flagged one unattended
piece of luggage,
a suitcase not connected
with anybody on the flight.
That suitcase was destined
for Pan Am 103.
Via Frankfurt,
it had originated in Malta.
Forensic experts then looked more
closely at the damaged clothing,
finding a pair of Yorkie trousers,
which Scottish police traced
to a clothing manufacturer,
also on Malta.
That manufacturer then led them
to one of their buyers.
A shop called Mary's House,
again on Malta.
Now, Mary's House is owned
by the Gauci family.
Tony Gauci has positively
identified one of the suspects,
Megrahi, to Scottish police
as the man he sold the clothing to
on December 7th, 1988.
And then, amazingly
found lodged inside the remnants
of one of the shirts that Gauci sold
was this.
Tiny piece of electronic circuit board.
This is absolutely central
to the Crown's prosecution case.
Both British and American
forensic experts agree
(PROJECTOR WHIRS)
this is part of the timer
attached to the bomb's detonator.
It was made by a Swiss firm
based in Zurich, MEBO,
owned by Edwin Bollier
and Erwin Meister.
MEBO supplied 20 of the timers
exclusively to Libya.
Not only this, but Megrahi
established a front company
under the name ABH,
used as a cover for Libyan
intelligence operations.
This business was established
in the same office building
as MEBO.
And here are our suspects.
(OMINOUS MUSIC STING)
Both men live in Tripoli.
Both are said to be
Libyan intelligence agents with
Megrahi owning a second passport
given to him by the Libyan
Intelligence Agency, the JSO.
Both men worked
for Libyan-Arab airlines,
with Megrahi as Head
of Airline Security until 1986.
Fhimah, as Station Manager
at Malta airport until 1988.
Police believe the bomb was put
onto the plane at Malta airport,
using Fhimah's old security pass
to gain airside access,
using Air Malta baggage tags
to allow unaccompanied
baggage on board.
That is how Fhimah and Megrahi
were able to get the suitcase airside.
That is how they were able to get
the bomb straight through customs,
and bypass airport security.
That is how these men
killed 270 people.
(PHONE RINGING)
(PHONE RINGING)
(PHONE RINGING)
- Hello?
- MURRAY: So let me get this straight.
For almost three years, we've been told
that Flight 103
was a revenge attack by Iran
for the US shooting down its Airbus,
killing 290 people.
They paid a Palestinian
terror group, the PFLP-GC,
who are based in Syria,
to carry out the bombing.
So, we've got
motives, named suspects.
But then everything changes.
We got it all wrong. It was Libya.
Murray, have you actually
read the indictment?
The evidence against them
is pretty damning.
It's a remarkable
piece of detective work.
You know, I heard an interesting
rumour this morning.
President Bush rang Thatcher
three months after Lockerbie
and told her, "Lay off Iran."
And then, on top of that,
a year later, Iraq invades Kuwait.
So now, we need Syria's help
to liberate Kuwait,
keep Iran sweet and out of the way.
That's how you defeat Saddam.
Can you not accept that the
Scottish investigators and the CIA
- might have got this right?
- I'm just asking the question, Jim.
The West kicks the Middle East
around like a football
to suit its needs, always has done.
I think that's what we're seeing
here. Now it's Libya's turn.
Rogue state ruled by Colonel Gaddafi,
a murderous nutjob with a history
of funding terrorism.
Exactly. They have a history
of this kind of thing.
And we've been trying to topple
Gaddafi for nearly a decade.
- I mean, what better excuse?
- Murray, I'm sorry.
I don't have time to listen
to your madcap theories.
You mark my words, Jim. If you think
Gaddafi is going to let
the West railroad Libya,
you've got another thing coming.
REPORTER: You going to do
anything about Gaddafi?
NEWSCASTER 1: The United States
carried out the attack
in retaliation for what it said
were terrorist acts
REAGAN: Under the direct orders
of the Libyan regime.
NEWSCASTER 2: A noted 100 Libyans
were killed, 30 in Benghazi-
NEWSCASTER 3: The defiance of
Libyans in the street was apparent.
NEWSCASTER 4: Suicide squads will be
sent to attack American targets.
Renewed anti-American
feeling within Libya.
NEWSCASTER 5: Syrian leader President
Assad pledging support for Gaddafi.
NEWSCASTER 6: Almost every
major terrorist incident
has been attributed
to Libya and Gaddafi.
NEWSCASTER 7: Libya implemented the
hijacking of a Pan Am jumbo jet
carried out by four Palestinians.
NEWSCASTER 8: The bullet which
killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher
came from Libyans inside the embassy.
NEWSCASTER 9: Supported
the Irish Republican Army.
This mad dog of the
Middle East referred to
the slaughter in Rome and Vienna
airports as a noble act.
Iran and Libya are two
of the most dangerous supporters
of terrorism in the world.
America is a powerful country.
Will not intimidate us
to accept a responsibility
that is not ours.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS)
Oh, my God!
My apologies.
I did not mean to frighten you.
Who the hell are you?
My name is Nabil Nagameldin.
I work for the Al-Ahram
newspaper in Cairo.
I have come to tell you that
Gaddafi will never release
these two suspects.
- That isn't possible.
- Oh, no, I'm afraid it is.
Libya is under immense international
pressure to hand them over.
Which would make
most countries capitulate.
But Libya is not most countries.
Libya is ruled by Muammar Gaddafi,
who loves nothing more than
thumbing his nose at the West.
He will stall and obstruct
at every turn.
But he's not stupid.
He knows that he has to assuage
the other Middle Eastern
and African countries.
So there are rumours
these men will stand trial.
But in Libya.
No, they cannot be tried in Libya.
It is imperative these men
stand trial in Scotland.
I agree. That is why
I have come here with a request,
or, more appropriately, an offer
(CLEARS THROAT)
to take you to Libya
to meet with Colonel Gaddafi.
(SCOFFS)
I have contacts
in the Libyan government.
I will write the article
and you will
you will grant me
an interview after your meeting.
Why on Earth would I
do something like that?
Look, Gaddafi is-is-
is impetuous and impatient.
He has to be approached
with-with certain,
shall we say, unconventional ways.
An approach like this from you,
that is one of those ways,
I'm convinced.
Gaddafi doesn't have
the first idea who I am.
You are wrong, Dr Swire.
In the Middle East, you have standing,
you are known.
You are admired.
People respect you. Truly.
They have seen you stand up
against your government.
Look, next month in New York,
the UN Security Council will be
meeting to discuss Resolution 731,
compelling Libya
to hand over the two suspects.
Gaddafi will not comply.
Your country and America's next
move will be to impose sanctions.
The moment that happens,
Libya will become
even more of a pariah state.
Gaddafi's position will harden
and your-your Lockerbie trial
will be
will be dead, finished.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Tell me this is a bad joke.
Are you sure he's not making it all up?
Oh, no, he seems genuine.
He writes for a newspaper in Cairo.
Dad, you're not going.
I didn't want to decide anything
until I'd spoken to all of you.
He's right, though.
If the UN do impose sanctions on Libya,
those two men will never
stand trial in Scotland.
- It's crazy, I know
- Crazy?
Terry Waite went to Beirut to
negotiate the release of hostages,
and they locked him
in a basement for four years.
Do I have any choice?
If there's no trial, we will
never find out the truth.
Do you know what they call Gaddafi?
The Mad Dog. He's a dictator.
His regime murders people.
I'm completely aware of that.
I'm sure he's happy
to sit down with Jim Swire,
a GP from Bromsgrove,
and give him whatever he wants. (!)
- Mum, are you gonna say anything?
- I have.
- I didn't want it to descend into this.
- What did you expect?
That we're all behind you?
No, please Will, please come back.
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
Well, Gaddafi's popularity stems
from his nationalist achievements.
Demanding higher prices for Libyan oil,
expelling foreign military bases,
support for Palestine
and other anti-imperialist causes.
Gaddafi has also
had dozens of his critics
around the world assassinated.
The moral support you wanted?
- I have to do this.
- I can't tell you what to do.
- You would go.
- Like a shot.
But I don't have a family.
I'm not a spokesman
for UK Families Flight 103.
- Have you told them about this?
- Not yet.
But I'm hoping they'll be in support.
The group
The family's not exactly
happy about it.
(GROANS)
What?
Just make sure they don't say
anything to anyone.
- Why?
- Jim, are you kiddin'?
(CHUCKLES)
You took a fake bomb
on a passenger plane.
You've pissed off Thatcher's
government God knows how many times.
- They'll be watching your every move.
- No.
- You really think so?
- They'll get every fax before you do.
Tap every phone call.
They've probably been
listening in for years.
From now on, you need
to be careful what you say.
But I promised Jane
I'd phone her every day.
(SIGHS)
Will they try to stop me, you think?
Libya's been on the
state-sponsored terrorism list
since 1979. So yeah,
they might. You watch yourself.
You're no good to anyone dead.
If I call you and say, "Tell the
family everything's alright,"
that means what it says.
I'm safe.
Bye, darling.
If I say, "Tell the family
everything's fine"
That means things are not going as
planned, but they're not critical.
If I say, "Tell EVERY-one
everything's alright."
That means I'm in danger.
Phone the Foreign Office
and tell them to get me out.
And what if you can't get to a phone?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(PLANE ENGINE ROARING)
(ENGINE STARTS)
(TYRES SCREECH)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC SOFTENS)
(MUSIC FADES)
(QUIETLY) It's OK. We wait here.
Who's this?
It's, uh, the 1986 attack,
when Reagan ordered
the bombing of Tripoli.
Gaddafi's adoptive daughter,
Hannah, was killed instantly.
She was 15 months old.
He has never forgotten.
Please.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
Um, I will wait for you here.
Good luck, Dr Swire.
(FOREBODING MUSIC)
(DOOR OPENS)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(MUSIC STOPS)
Thank you for meeting with me, sir.
You have come to talk with me.
So, talk.
We, um, myself
and the families and relatives
of those who died,
our utmost desire is, uh,
to see justice done.
So tell me, how will justice be done?
Already the West has convicted them.
They are the Lockerbie bombers.
The Libyan mass murderers.
Is that justice?
No, sir. It is not.
If I may
I brought
some photographs
of my daughter. Flora.
I ask only that the two men accused
of this crime be made to stand trial.
I assure you,
they will be treated fairly.
When has Libya
ever been treated fairly?
Can you tell me?
My country is being blackmailed
and bullied into compliance
by the Americans,
by the UN, and your country.
If you do as they wish
Why should I agree to a trial
here or anywhere?
Did the cowardly American pilot
who dropped the missile on my home
ever stand a trial? No.
He was commended for his bravery.
This meeting is over.
(BRIEFCASE THUDS, LOCK CLOCKS)
Sir, we both lost daughters.
I'm asking you, father to father.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
This is not about revenge.
Pan Am 103.
The truth must be known.
I only want to know
who killed my daughter.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FLOURISHES, ENDS)
A British man who lost his daughter
in the Pan Am 103 bombing
is being criticized for meeting
with Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
I fully understand the repugnance
at anyone shaking the hand
of Colonel Gaddafi
a man who may have known about,
or even ordered the Lockerbie plot.
But let them also ask themselves
if they want to see these two men
stand trial or not.
I'm angry because the British
perception of Jim Swire
is that he speaks for all of us.
BERT: Well, Jim's heart
was in the right place,
but, uh, he left his brain at home.
The Libyans have won a propaganda
coup with this trip.
Jim Swire has been duped by Gaddafi.
Jim Swire has become Gaddafi's poodle.
MOSEY: We're glad as a group
to have someone like Jim,
someone who is as active
and committed and dedicated.
Although it has, and
it will cost him a great deal.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
- Pierre Salinger, ABC News.
- Hello, sir.
I'm very grateful you've agreed
to speak with me, Mr Megrahi.
America is very interested in what
you have to say about these charges.
According to the indictment, you
travelled with a special suitcase
from Tripoli to Malta Airport
on the 20th of December, 1988.
What you mean special suitcase?
A Samsonite suitcase.
No, that is wrong. Uh
Whenever I go to Malta,
which is a lot,
because of my job, I I
I carry what I what I carry in a
a clothing case.
It's a small case, a small case.
A small case. Nev Never big case.
You keep a diary, Mr Fhimah,
do you not?
- Yes, a personal diary.
- Hmm.
They say you wrote a reminder to
take some Air Malta baggage tags,
the kind that get bags onto planes
unaccompanied from the airport.
Now, why would you have written that?
If I could, uh, look at my diary,
I could tell you why.
The indictment also says
that when you went to Malta
on the 20th of December,
you did so on a false passport,
using a false name.
If I had written something
important in my diary,
I wouldn't have just left it there.
In other words, if you felt
there was something in there
that might implicate you in some crime?
Exactly. Exactly.
(CHUCKLES) I'm, uh,
surprised they tell me this.
I'm here in Tripoli.
My family know I was here. I was
here. They know I was here.
Well, the indictment
says you were in Malta.
That you stayed at the Holiday Inn
on the night of the 20th,
into the 21st of December, 1988,
the day of the bombing.
My friend, I tell you, I'm
I'm not on Malta on the day.
- I was here.
- You were here, in Tripoli,
- on the 21st of December?
- Yes.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ENGINE STARTS UP)
(SIGHS)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
(PHONE RINGING)
- Hello?
- NABIL: Hello, Jim.
- Nabil.
- It's exactly as I feared.
The UN Security Council
have passed the resolution.
And now Gaddafi is refusing
to release the two suspects,
- despite the sanctions.
- No.
We've reached a stalemate, Jim.
A standoff has begun.
COUNCIL MEMBER: The international
community will not tolerate
such threats to international
peace and security.
It is prepared to take
concerted political action
against the continuing defiance
represented by Libya's
state-supported terrorists.
NEWSCASTER 1: At a five-year
memorial service,
President Clinton had appeared
to throw down the gauntlet
for the Pan Am bombing.
It was an attack on America.
NEWSCASTER 2: The next logical
punitive step by the United Nations
would be to order a naval blockade.
Libyan anger over United
Nations' sanction vote
has apparently come to a boil.
Demonstrators attacked foreign
embassies in Tripoli today.
NEWSCASTER 4: ..took to the
streets to protest-
NEWSCASTER 5: US sanctions
have cost nearly $2.5 billion.
RUBINO: My clients have advised me
that they cannot get a fair trial
in the United States where people
believe they're already guilty.
NEWSCASTER 6: Under no circumstances
will they be extradited
- to face trial in the West.
- Sorry, we cannot.
It is unacceptable to say justice
in Scotland is not fair.
About time all sides stop shouting
at each other from the touchline.
I'm not here to talk politics.
I'm here to talk truth and justice.
LIBYAN MINISTER: We have the same
interest like Jim Swire.
We want the truth
to be revealed and to be found.
Have we done everything we could do?
Well, uh, if that's so,
it hasn't been enough.
NEWSCASTER 7: Eight years after Pan
Am 103 was blown out of the sky,
the case against
the suspected terrorist bombers
is an international
standoff going nowhere.
Libya's leader refuses
to hand the men over.
Resolving the case of Pan Am 103
in a court of law
seems as distant as ever.
My latest proposal will be my last.
If this doesn't work,
it may be the end of the line.
There is a slight chance
it will be accepted,
and any chance is better
than no chance.
Thank you for meeting me,
Professor Black.
Oh, please, Jim. It's, uh, Robert.
I feel like I already know you.
Please.
After four long years,
this is where we stand.
We are proposing the trial
be held in a neutral country.
The Netherlands?
Uh, it's the only way we'll
get the Libyans on board.
It's the same with the jury.
Their lawyers are arguing
that any jury will be biased.
So we're proposing a panel
of Scottish judges,
which Libya are still
(SIGHS) ..mulling over.
You've had quite a battle of it.
We are making legal history here.
Nothing like this on this scale
has ever been done before.
The only problem is
the US and the UK don't want
to be seen making concessions
to Gaddafi.
And Gaddafi wants the Arab world
to see him standing up
to the imperialistic dogs of the West.
Behind closed doors, of course,
both sides are desperate to agree.
The UK and the US
for the sake of the families,
and Libya because UN sanctions
are slowly killing the country.
Right now, it's Gaddafi
that worries me.
I think he's about to walk away,
whether his country collapses or not.
You can't give up.
I don't want to. I was born and
raised in Lockerbie, Jim.
We will do all we can. Believe me.
But unless we can get Gaddafi on board,
it's game over.
I'll help you.
I have Gaddafi on speed dial.
(KEYPAD BEEPING)
Last traces of my
sense of humour, Robert.
Ah. (CHUCKLES)
But I'm serious.
We should go and pay him a visit.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
(MUSIC FADES)
Don't take waiting this long
as a bad sign.
(SPEAKS ARABIC)
(BOTH SPEAKING ARABIC)
Professor Robert Black,
the legal expert
who first proposed the idea.
(SPEAKS ARABIC)
My patience is being tested.
My legal experts has been
in a discussion
with yours for many years.
We are impatient also,
but we must persevere.
Uh Uh, the tide is turning, sir.
I note that the Arab League
have signalled their displeasure
at the current sanctions.
The whole world wants
to see this trial happen.
The one thing they aren't expecting
is for you to take the lead.
Send the suspects.
The The trial will be fair,
your reputation intact.
And they will have no choice but
to lift the sanctions. You win.
On every count, sir.
A victory for both
you and your country.
The way you lead,
others will follow.
NEWSCASTER 1: The Libyan government
has finally agreed
to allow the suspects to be tried
in neutral territory
under Scottish law.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
NEWSCASTER 2: The trial masterminded
by Professor Robert Black,
will be held at a former airbase
in the Netherlands,
a first in international legal history.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
NEWSCASTER 3: Some people said
there was never going to be
a criminal trial into
the mass murder over Lockerbie.
There now is going to be
a criminal trial.
And best of all, the relatives
will now have the chance to hear
the evidence that we hold
brought out in a local court.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
I know you want to go to the trial.
But after it's over,
I want you to promise me something.
What?
That that's the end of it.
You stop.
You accept the verdict, whatever it is.
(HANDCUFFS CLICK)
And we get you back.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
(MUSIC BUILDING)
I promise.
(MUSIC STOPS)
Sub extracted & improved by
distressing scenes.
Go and have the time of your life.
WILL: A newsflash.
Plane's gone down.
- Murray Guthrie.
- Jim Swire.
Full disclosure, I'm a journalist.
They say in the press it may have
been Iran, revenge attack.
Anonymous phone call
made to the US Embassy.
Embassy dismissed it as a hoax.
Your government knew. They all knew.
JANE: I have nightmares.
Was our daughter conscious
as she fell through the sky?
How did a bomb get through airport
security and onto Flight 103?
Why is there so much secrecy
around this?
Are we ever going to know
what really happened?
I will never stop. Not until
we know the answer to everything.
JIM: (ON VOICEMAIL)
You've reached the Swire household.
We're not home to take
your call at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you. (BEEP)
Oh, hi, Jim. Murray here.
I hope you're sitting down,
because I've just heard Thatcher's
ordered an independent inquiry
into the Strangeways Prison riot.
Sum total of deaths, two.
So we now have inquiries into
the Clapham Junction crash, 35 deaths,
the King's Cross fire, 31 deaths,
and the Piper Alpha disaster,
167 deaths.
But bugger all for Lockerbie.
Bugger all for 270 dead.
I mean (CHUCKLES INCREDULOUSLY)
what is it with these people?
What the hell do you have to do to
make them sit up and take notice?
Actually get off their arses
and do something?
What is it they're hiding?
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
What's going on?
Security spot checks on luggage.
- Am I OK to look inside?
- Yes.
Where are you flying to, sir?
Boston, via JFK.
Have you taken the batteries out, sir?
We have new safety rules.
Yes. Yeah, I have. Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Have a safe flight.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
- Sorry. Sorry, the traffic.
- Hello, darling.
- Don't worry. How are you?
- Good. How are you?
(CHUCKLES) Good.
Oh, it was a gift.
Flora's boyfriend's father
painted it and sent it over for us.
He's really caught her,
don't you think?
You don't think there's
enough reminders?
It's not Flora.
Dad made it to the airport alright?
Oh-Oh, yeah.
Did you get any sleep last night?
- (SNIFFLES)
- Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
Sit down and put your feet up.
I'll take those bags upstairs,
then I'll make us some tea.
OK?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(HIGH-PITCHED RINGING)
(EXPLOSION)
(ALL SCREAMING)
(WIND RUSHING)
(SCREAMS, PANTS)
You OK?
Mum, please. Will you go
and speak to someone?
It's OK. I'm fine.
I'm fine, Cathy. I'm fine.
It's fine.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS CONTINUE)
(DOG SNIFFS)
Hello, Jim.
It's good to see you.
Everyone's excited
to finally meet you in person.
My very own homemade version
of the bomb
which blew up Flight 103.
You brought that with you on a plane?
Is that Semtex?
A very pliable,
odourless plastic explosive
favoured by paramilitary groups
and terrorists.
I used marzipan.
Jim, I'm sorry.
Are you out of your mind?
How many times have we been told
airport security has improved,
that a bomb would never get
onto a plane nowadays?
Yeah sure, but is this
the way to call them out?
A security officer at Heathrow
picked it up, looked at it,
and wished me a safe onward journey.
I got through three sets
of security checks to get here
via JFK. I wasn't stopped once.
Now, I'm sorry
if this upsets some of you.
I wanted it to be impossible
for me to do this, believe me.
The fact is, it wasn't.
And people need to know.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(ALL CLAMOURING)
REPORTER: Did you know
about the fake bomb?
Do you agree with
what your father's done?
Incredible, audacious,
an act of gross stupidity.
Just some of the reactions
to Dr Jim Swire,
spokesman for UK Families Flight 103.
Why? Because he built
a fake bomb in his home
- and carried it in a suitcase
- Did you know about this?
- on a flight from London to New York.
- No.
The same route on which his daughter,
Flora, was killed.
If I was a terrorist, another plane
would have been blown out of the sky.
Hundreds more innocent people
would have been murdered.
NEWSCASTER: 24 hours since touching
down in the US, Dr Swire has-
The Midlands doctor, whose daughter
died in the Lockerbie plane bomb-
I cannot stress strongly enough
this government's determination
to enforce the highest standards
of aviation security.
And we will be speaking to
Dr Swire on his return to the UK.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER PA)
(INAUDIBLE)
Finally.
Questioned. Given a verbal warning.
"Bad boy, don't do it again."
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry.
What hurts the most
is being kept in the dark.
I didn't want to get you involved.
(SIGHS)
There were press people outside,
Jim, dozens of them.
We hadn't a clue what was going on.
And what if you had been arrested,
here or in America?
Wh-Wh-What would I have done?
And the kids.
Did you think about any of us?
- Did Murray put you up to this?
- No.
No, all my own doing.
Is that why you've been shut up
in your study all this time?
You've barely spoken a word to us.
Spineless government
hiding behind secrets,
criminal investigation taking forever.
I just wanted to make some noise.
- Do something.
- You are doing something.
You're constantly giving interviews,
writing letters.
- Howling at the moon.
- No. No, Jim. That's not true.
This will cause consternation
and tutting for a few days,
then it will all go quiet again.
I should have told you.
It was wrong of me.
It's all for her.
You haven't stopped since she died.
What else can I do?
For now
take a step back.
You have me
you have two other children.
Be with us.
(GENTLE VIOLIN MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOMBRE VIOLIN MUSIC)
Good to be back.
(CHUCKLES)
(JIM CLEARS THROAT)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
Here it goes.
- Thanks, darling.
- You're going down.
Ready?
- Steady.
- Go!
What? No!
(LAUGHTER)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTS)
No, no! No, no!
Get behind me.
(LAUGHTER)
(CAMERA REEL WHIRRING)
(MELANCHOLIC PIANO MUSIC)
(PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FADES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Thanks, Dad.
(DISTANT PATRONS APPLAUDING)
(INAUDIBLE TV CHATTER)
NEWSCASTER: Now, three years later,
two suspects have finally
been identified.
Their names announced earlier today
by Scotland's Lord Advocate,
Peter Fraser.
FRASER: And yesterday,
Mr McDougall obtained
from him the grant of warrants
for the arrest of two
Libyan nationals
- Libya? I thought Iran did it?
- on charges of conspiracy,
murder and contravention
of the Aviation Security Act of 1982.
The two accused are
Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi
and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah.
- Both accused are believed
- They did it
to be in Libya.
The warrants will be
- circulated to Interpol
- They got them.
but it is considered unlikely
that they will be arrested.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(HORN HONKING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(DOG BARKING)
(LOCK CLICKS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(INDISTINCT TV CHATTER)
(DISHES CLATTERING)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(SOFT MUSIC)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
So I've gone through the indictment
and set it out in layman's terms,
together with some of the other
information that we have.
As we know, the bomb
hand-built presumably,
was hidden inside a Toshiba BomBeat
radio-cassette recorder
and placed amongst
articles of clothing
inside a brown Samsonite suitcase.
Now, we know this because
blast-charred fragments
of clothing and suitcase were found
by search teams in Lockerbie
and forensically examined
by the Royal Armament Research
and Development Establishment.
Now at the same time,
a baggage record from Frankfurt
was turned over to Scottish police.
It flagged one unattended
piece of luggage,
a suitcase not connected
with anybody on the flight.
That suitcase was destined
for Pan Am 103.
Via Frankfurt,
it had originated in Malta.
Forensic experts then looked more
closely at the damaged clothing,
finding a pair of Yorkie trousers,
which Scottish police traced
to a clothing manufacturer,
also on Malta.
That manufacturer then led them
to one of their buyers.
A shop called Mary's House,
again on Malta.
Now, Mary's House is owned
by the Gauci family.
Tony Gauci has positively
identified one of the suspects,
Megrahi, to Scottish police
as the man he sold the clothing to
on December 7th, 1988.
And then, amazingly
found lodged inside the remnants
of one of the shirts that Gauci sold
was this.
Tiny piece of electronic circuit board.
This is absolutely central
to the Crown's prosecution case.
Both British and American
forensic experts agree
(PROJECTOR WHIRS)
this is part of the timer
attached to the bomb's detonator.
It was made by a Swiss firm
based in Zurich, MEBO,
owned by Edwin Bollier
and Erwin Meister.
MEBO supplied 20 of the timers
exclusively to Libya.
Not only this, but Megrahi
established a front company
under the name ABH,
used as a cover for Libyan
intelligence operations.
This business was established
in the same office building
as MEBO.
And here are our suspects.
(OMINOUS MUSIC STING)
Both men live in Tripoli.
Both are said to be
Libyan intelligence agents with
Megrahi owning a second passport
given to him by the Libyan
Intelligence Agency, the JSO.
Both men worked
for Libyan-Arab airlines,
with Megrahi as Head
of Airline Security until 1986.
Fhimah, as Station Manager
at Malta airport until 1988.
Police believe the bomb was put
onto the plane at Malta airport,
using Fhimah's old security pass
to gain airside access,
using Air Malta baggage tags
to allow unaccompanied
baggage on board.
That is how Fhimah and Megrahi
were able to get the suitcase airside.
That is how they were able to get
the bomb straight through customs,
and bypass airport security.
That is how these men
killed 270 people.
(PHONE RINGING)
(PHONE RINGING)
(PHONE RINGING)
- Hello?
- MURRAY: So let me get this straight.
For almost three years, we've been told
that Flight 103
was a revenge attack by Iran
for the US shooting down its Airbus,
killing 290 people.
They paid a Palestinian
terror group, the PFLP-GC,
who are based in Syria,
to carry out the bombing.
So, we've got
motives, named suspects.
But then everything changes.
We got it all wrong. It was Libya.
Murray, have you actually
read the indictment?
The evidence against them
is pretty damning.
It's a remarkable
piece of detective work.
You know, I heard an interesting
rumour this morning.
President Bush rang Thatcher
three months after Lockerbie
and told her, "Lay off Iran."
And then, on top of that,
a year later, Iraq invades Kuwait.
So now, we need Syria's help
to liberate Kuwait,
keep Iran sweet and out of the way.
That's how you defeat Saddam.
Can you not accept that the
Scottish investigators and the CIA
- might have got this right?
- I'm just asking the question, Jim.
The West kicks the Middle East
around like a football
to suit its needs, always has done.
I think that's what we're seeing
here. Now it's Libya's turn.
Rogue state ruled by Colonel Gaddafi,
a murderous nutjob with a history
of funding terrorism.
Exactly. They have a history
of this kind of thing.
And we've been trying to topple
Gaddafi for nearly a decade.
- I mean, what better excuse?
- Murray, I'm sorry.
I don't have time to listen
to your madcap theories.
You mark my words, Jim. If you think
Gaddafi is going to let
the West railroad Libya,
you've got another thing coming.
REPORTER: You going to do
anything about Gaddafi?
NEWSCASTER 1: The United States
carried out the attack
in retaliation for what it said
were terrorist acts
REAGAN: Under the direct orders
of the Libyan regime.
NEWSCASTER 2: A noted 100 Libyans
were killed, 30 in Benghazi-
NEWSCASTER 3: The defiance of
Libyans in the street was apparent.
NEWSCASTER 4: Suicide squads will be
sent to attack American targets.
Renewed anti-American
feeling within Libya.
NEWSCASTER 5: Syrian leader President
Assad pledging support for Gaddafi.
NEWSCASTER 6: Almost every
major terrorist incident
has been attributed
to Libya and Gaddafi.
NEWSCASTER 7: Libya implemented the
hijacking of a Pan Am jumbo jet
carried out by four Palestinians.
NEWSCASTER 8: The bullet which
killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher
came from Libyans inside the embassy.
NEWSCASTER 9: Supported
the Irish Republican Army.
This mad dog of the
Middle East referred to
the slaughter in Rome and Vienna
airports as a noble act.
Iran and Libya are two
of the most dangerous supporters
of terrorism in the world.
America is a powerful country.
Will not intimidate us
to accept a responsibility
that is not ours.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS)
Oh, my God!
My apologies.
I did not mean to frighten you.
Who the hell are you?
My name is Nabil Nagameldin.
I work for the Al-Ahram
newspaper in Cairo.
I have come to tell you that
Gaddafi will never release
these two suspects.
- That isn't possible.
- Oh, no, I'm afraid it is.
Libya is under immense international
pressure to hand them over.
Which would make
most countries capitulate.
But Libya is not most countries.
Libya is ruled by Muammar Gaddafi,
who loves nothing more than
thumbing his nose at the West.
He will stall and obstruct
at every turn.
But he's not stupid.
He knows that he has to assuage
the other Middle Eastern
and African countries.
So there are rumours
these men will stand trial.
But in Libya.
No, they cannot be tried in Libya.
It is imperative these men
stand trial in Scotland.
I agree. That is why
I have come here with a request,
or, more appropriately, an offer
(CLEARS THROAT)
to take you to Libya
to meet with Colonel Gaddafi.
(SCOFFS)
I have contacts
in the Libyan government.
I will write the article
and you will
you will grant me
an interview after your meeting.
Why on Earth would I
do something like that?
Look, Gaddafi is-is-
is impetuous and impatient.
He has to be approached
with-with certain,
shall we say, unconventional ways.
An approach like this from you,
that is one of those ways,
I'm convinced.
Gaddafi doesn't have
the first idea who I am.
You are wrong, Dr Swire.
In the Middle East, you have standing,
you are known.
You are admired.
People respect you. Truly.
They have seen you stand up
against your government.
Look, next month in New York,
the UN Security Council will be
meeting to discuss Resolution 731,
compelling Libya
to hand over the two suspects.
Gaddafi will not comply.
Your country and America's next
move will be to impose sanctions.
The moment that happens,
Libya will become
even more of a pariah state.
Gaddafi's position will harden
and your-your Lockerbie trial
will be
will be dead, finished.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Tell me this is a bad joke.
Are you sure he's not making it all up?
Oh, no, he seems genuine.
He writes for a newspaper in Cairo.
Dad, you're not going.
I didn't want to decide anything
until I'd spoken to all of you.
He's right, though.
If the UN do impose sanctions on Libya,
those two men will never
stand trial in Scotland.
- It's crazy, I know
- Crazy?
Terry Waite went to Beirut to
negotiate the release of hostages,
and they locked him
in a basement for four years.
Do I have any choice?
If there's no trial, we will
never find out the truth.
Do you know what they call Gaddafi?
The Mad Dog. He's a dictator.
His regime murders people.
I'm completely aware of that.
I'm sure he's happy
to sit down with Jim Swire,
a GP from Bromsgrove,
and give him whatever he wants. (!)
- Mum, are you gonna say anything?
- I have.
- I didn't want it to descend into this.
- What did you expect?
That we're all behind you?
No, please Will, please come back.
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
Well, Gaddafi's popularity stems
from his nationalist achievements.
Demanding higher prices for Libyan oil,
expelling foreign military bases,
support for Palestine
and other anti-imperialist causes.
Gaddafi has also
had dozens of his critics
around the world assassinated.
The moral support you wanted?
- I have to do this.
- I can't tell you what to do.
- You would go.
- Like a shot.
But I don't have a family.
I'm not a spokesman
for UK Families Flight 103.
- Have you told them about this?
- Not yet.
But I'm hoping they'll be in support.
The group
The family's not exactly
happy about it.
(GROANS)
What?
Just make sure they don't say
anything to anyone.
- Why?
- Jim, are you kiddin'?
(CHUCKLES)
You took a fake bomb
on a passenger plane.
You've pissed off Thatcher's
government God knows how many times.
- They'll be watching your every move.
- No.
- You really think so?
- They'll get every fax before you do.
Tap every phone call.
They've probably been
listening in for years.
From now on, you need
to be careful what you say.
But I promised Jane
I'd phone her every day.
(SIGHS)
Will they try to stop me, you think?
Libya's been on the
state-sponsored terrorism list
since 1979. So yeah,
they might. You watch yourself.
You're no good to anyone dead.
If I call you and say, "Tell the
family everything's alright,"
that means what it says.
I'm safe.
Bye, darling.
If I say, "Tell the family
everything's fine"
That means things are not going as
planned, but they're not critical.
If I say, "Tell EVERY-one
everything's alright."
That means I'm in danger.
Phone the Foreign Office
and tell them to get me out.
And what if you can't get to a phone?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(PLANE ENGINE ROARING)
(ENGINE STARTS)
(TYRES SCREECH)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC SOFTENS)
(MUSIC FADES)
(QUIETLY) It's OK. We wait here.
Who's this?
It's, uh, the 1986 attack,
when Reagan ordered
the bombing of Tripoli.
Gaddafi's adoptive daughter,
Hannah, was killed instantly.
She was 15 months old.
He has never forgotten.
Please.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
Um, I will wait for you here.
Good luck, Dr Swire.
(FOREBODING MUSIC)
(DOOR OPENS)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(MUSIC STOPS)
Thank you for meeting with me, sir.
You have come to talk with me.
So, talk.
We, um, myself
and the families and relatives
of those who died,
our utmost desire is, uh,
to see justice done.
So tell me, how will justice be done?
Already the West has convicted them.
They are the Lockerbie bombers.
The Libyan mass murderers.
Is that justice?
No, sir. It is not.
If I may
I brought
some photographs
of my daughter. Flora.
I ask only that the two men accused
of this crime be made to stand trial.
I assure you,
they will be treated fairly.
When has Libya
ever been treated fairly?
Can you tell me?
My country is being blackmailed
and bullied into compliance
by the Americans,
by the UN, and your country.
If you do as they wish
Why should I agree to a trial
here or anywhere?
Did the cowardly American pilot
who dropped the missile on my home
ever stand a trial? No.
He was commended for his bravery.
This meeting is over.
(BRIEFCASE THUDS, LOCK CLOCKS)
Sir, we both lost daughters.
I'm asking you, father to father.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
This is not about revenge.
Pan Am 103.
The truth must be known.
I only want to know
who killed my daughter.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FLOURISHES, ENDS)
A British man who lost his daughter
in the Pan Am 103 bombing
is being criticized for meeting
with Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
I fully understand the repugnance
at anyone shaking the hand
of Colonel Gaddafi
a man who may have known about,
or even ordered the Lockerbie plot.
But let them also ask themselves
if they want to see these two men
stand trial or not.
I'm angry because the British
perception of Jim Swire
is that he speaks for all of us.
BERT: Well, Jim's heart
was in the right place,
but, uh, he left his brain at home.
The Libyans have won a propaganda
coup with this trip.
Jim Swire has been duped by Gaddafi.
Jim Swire has become Gaddafi's poodle.
MOSEY: We're glad as a group
to have someone like Jim,
someone who is as active
and committed and dedicated.
Although it has, and
it will cost him a great deal.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
- Pierre Salinger, ABC News.
- Hello, sir.
I'm very grateful you've agreed
to speak with me, Mr Megrahi.
America is very interested in what
you have to say about these charges.
According to the indictment, you
travelled with a special suitcase
from Tripoli to Malta Airport
on the 20th of December, 1988.
What you mean special suitcase?
A Samsonite suitcase.
No, that is wrong. Uh
Whenever I go to Malta,
which is a lot,
because of my job, I I
I carry what I what I carry in a
a clothing case.
It's a small case, a small case.
A small case. Nev Never big case.
You keep a diary, Mr Fhimah,
do you not?
- Yes, a personal diary.
- Hmm.
They say you wrote a reminder to
take some Air Malta baggage tags,
the kind that get bags onto planes
unaccompanied from the airport.
Now, why would you have written that?
If I could, uh, look at my diary,
I could tell you why.
The indictment also says
that when you went to Malta
on the 20th of December,
you did so on a false passport,
using a false name.
If I had written something
important in my diary,
I wouldn't have just left it there.
In other words, if you felt
there was something in there
that might implicate you in some crime?
Exactly. Exactly.
(CHUCKLES) I'm, uh,
surprised they tell me this.
I'm here in Tripoli.
My family know I was here. I was
here. They know I was here.
Well, the indictment
says you were in Malta.
That you stayed at the Holiday Inn
on the night of the 20th,
into the 21st of December, 1988,
the day of the bombing.
My friend, I tell you, I'm
I'm not on Malta on the day.
- I was here.
- You were here, in Tripoli,
- on the 21st of December?
- Yes.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ENGINE STARTS UP)
(SIGHS)
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
(PHONE RINGING)
- Hello?
- NABIL: Hello, Jim.
- Nabil.
- It's exactly as I feared.
The UN Security Council
have passed the resolution.
And now Gaddafi is refusing
to release the two suspects,
- despite the sanctions.
- No.
We've reached a stalemate, Jim.
A standoff has begun.
COUNCIL MEMBER: The international
community will not tolerate
such threats to international
peace and security.
It is prepared to take
concerted political action
against the continuing defiance
represented by Libya's
state-supported terrorists.
NEWSCASTER 1: At a five-year
memorial service,
President Clinton had appeared
to throw down the gauntlet
for the Pan Am bombing.
It was an attack on America.
NEWSCASTER 2: The next logical
punitive step by the United Nations
would be to order a naval blockade.
Libyan anger over United
Nations' sanction vote
has apparently come to a boil.
Demonstrators attacked foreign
embassies in Tripoli today.
NEWSCASTER 4: ..took to the
streets to protest-
NEWSCASTER 5: US sanctions
have cost nearly $2.5 billion.
RUBINO: My clients have advised me
that they cannot get a fair trial
in the United States where people
believe they're already guilty.
NEWSCASTER 6: Under no circumstances
will they be extradited
- to face trial in the West.
- Sorry, we cannot.
It is unacceptable to say justice
in Scotland is not fair.
About time all sides stop shouting
at each other from the touchline.
I'm not here to talk politics.
I'm here to talk truth and justice.
LIBYAN MINISTER: We have the same
interest like Jim Swire.
We want the truth
to be revealed and to be found.
Have we done everything we could do?
Well, uh, if that's so,
it hasn't been enough.
NEWSCASTER 7: Eight years after Pan
Am 103 was blown out of the sky,
the case against
the suspected terrorist bombers
is an international
standoff going nowhere.
Libya's leader refuses
to hand the men over.
Resolving the case of Pan Am 103
in a court of law
seems as distant as ever.
My latest proposal will be my last.
If this doesn't work,
it may be the end of the line.
There is a slight chance
it will be accepted,
and any chance is better
than no chance.
Thank you for meeting me,
Professor Black.
Oh, please, Jim. It's, uh, Robert.
I feel like I already know you.
Please.
After four long years,
this is where we stand.
We are proposing the trial
be held in a neutral country.
The Netherlands?
Uh, it's the only way we'll
get the Libyans on board.
It's the same with the jury.
Their lawyers are arguing
that any jury will be biased.
So we're proposing a panel
of Scottish judges,
which Libya are still
(SIGHS) ..mulling over.
You've had quite a battle of it.
We are making legal history here.
Nothing like this on this scale
has ever been done before.
The only problem is
the US and the UK don't want
to be seen making concessions
to Gaddafi.
And Gaddafi wants the Arab world
to see him standing up
to the imperialistic dogs of the West.
Behind closed doors, of course,
both sides are desperate to agree.
The UK and the US
for the sake of the families,
and Libya because UN sanctions
are slowly killing the country.
Right now, it's Gaddafi
that worries me.
I think he's about to walk away,
whether his country collapses or not.
You can't give up.
I don't want to. I was born and
raised in Lockerbie, Jim.
We will do all we can. Believe me.
But unless we can get Gaddafi on board,
it's game over.
I'll help you.
I have Gaddafi on speed dial.
(KEYPAD BEEPING)
Last traces of my
sense of humour, Robert.
Ah. (CHUCKLES)
But I'm serious.
We should go and pay him a visit.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
(MUSIC FADES)
Don't take waiting this long
as a bad sign.
(SPEAKS ARABIC)
(BOTH SPEAKING ARABIC)
Professor Robert Black,
the legal expert
who first proposed the idea.
(SPEAKS ARABIC)
My patience is being tested.
My legal experts has been
in a discussion
with yours for many years.
We are impatient also,
but we must persevere.
Uh Uh, the tide is turning, sir.
I note that the Arab League
have signalled their displeasure
at the current sanctions.
The whole world wants
to see this trial happen.
The one thing they aren't expecting
is for you to take the lead.
Send the suspects.
The The trial will be fair,
your reputation intact.
And they will have no choice but
to lift the sanctions. You win.
On every count, sir.
A victory for both
you and your country.
The way you lead,
others will follow.
NEWSCASTER 1: The Libyan government
has finally agreed
to allow the suspects to be tried
in neutral territory
under Scottish law.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
NEWSCASTER 2: The trial masterminded
by Professor Robert Black,
will be held at a former airbase
in the Netherlands,
a first in international legal history.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
NEWSCASTER 3: Some people said
there was never going to be
a criminal trial into
the mass murder over Lockerbie.
There now is going to be
a criminal trial.
And best of all, the relatives
will now have the chance to hear
the evidence that we hold
brought out in a local court.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
I know you want to go to the trial.
But after it's over,
I want you to promise me something.
What?
That that's the end of it.
You stop.
You accept the verdict, whatever it is.
(HANDCUFFS CLICK)
And we get you back.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
(MUSIC BUILDING)
I promise.
(MUSIC STOPS)
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