Rabat – Morocco is gearing up to welcome the production crew of a series on the Lockerbie bombing, co-produced by streaming giant Netflix and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), SNRTNews reported.
Filming is set to commence after the holy month of Ramadan, specifically in April 2024, according to the report.
Parts of the series will be shot in the Moroccan cities of Marrakech and Essaouira, with production handled by Moroccan company Dunes. The Moroccan coastal city of Essaouira was home to major Hollywood films and international TV series productions.
The Lockerbie bombing series will be directed by Michael Keillor, known for his work on the thriller film “Roadkill” and for directing episodes of the series “Line of Duty.”
Meanwhile, British novelist Jonathan Lee and Scottish screenwriter Gillian Roger Park are the writers for the drama series.
Also known as the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, the Lockerbie bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on December 21, 1988.
Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747 aircraft, was en route from Frankfurt to Detroit when a bomb exploded on board over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed, along with 11 people on the ground.
The bombing is considered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in British history and the deadliest terrorist attack involving a commercial aircraft before the 9/11 attacks in the US.
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Following the tragic Lockerbie bombing, Scottish authorities launched an extensive investigation, with assistance from various international agencies.
The investigation, which involved sifting through debris, examining forensic evidence, and conducting interviews, was one of the largest and most complex criminal investigations ever undertaken in the UK.
In 1991, three years after the incident, Scottish prosecutors indicted two Libyan intelligence agents, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, for their alleged roles in the bombing.
Libya initially refused to extradite the suspects to stand trial in Scotland. But in 1999, after years of diplomatic negotiations and pressure, Libya agreed to hand over the suspects for trial under Scottish law at a special court set up in the Netherlands.
In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, while Lamin Khalifah Fhimah was acquitted.
Despite the conviction, the Lockerbie bombing remained a subject of controversy and ongoing investigation. Some relatives of the victims, as well as independent observers, have raised doubts about the reliability of the evidence and the fairness of the trial.
Several theories and alternative explanations about the bombing have been proposed over the years, including suggestions of other possible perpetrators and motives.
In 2022, the BBC reported that Libyan man Abu Agila Masud was in US custody for his alleged involvement in the bombing. Masud has been accused of making the bomb that destroyed the plane.
