The State Department said Thursday that U.S. investigators could not confirm a CBS News report that named Ahmed Jabril, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, responsible for the blowing up of a Pan American plane over Scotland Dec. 21.
“The investigators have not yet reached any conclusion about who is responsible for the tragedy of Pan Am Flight 103,” department spokesman Charles Redman said.
“We are confident that we’ll eventually find out who is responsible,” he added. “But we do not expect a quick solution.”
CBS News, citing sources “in the international terrorist movement,” said Wednesday night that the PFLP-General Command was responsible for the bombing of the Pan Am flight that killed 270 people.
CBS said that Jabril was acting at the behest of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who had been seeking revenge for the April 15, 1986 U.S. air raid on Libya.
It also reported that Jabril had the backing of Syria. As a former officer in Syrian military intelligence, Jabril would have had to receive clearance for the operation from Brig. Gen. Ali Douba, head of the Syrian military intelligence.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
