checked in an item of baggage at Frankfurt, then left
the plane before it took off from London. However,
no immediate leads were forthcoming, and the po-
lice investigation had to begin sifting through the
evidence at the crime scene, including thousands of
items of clothing and suitcases.
Impact The majority of the victims were American;
thirty-five of them were students from Syracuse Uni-
versity in New York. Many of the victims’ relatives
came to Lockerbie to attend a memorial service held
on January 4, 1989, staying with local townspeople,
some of whom had been made homeless themselves.
Later, townspeople collected and cleaned every per-
sonal item found and returned them to the relatives.
Many friendships were formed.
It was also immediately clear that airport security
must have been lax to allow explosives and unat-
tended baggage to pass checkpoints. A warning mes-
sage delivered to the U.S. embassy in Helsinki, Fin-
land, had not had the full circulation it should have.
In September, 1989, U.S. president George H. W.
Bush established a commission to investigate avia-
tion security and its relation to the bombing. Imme-
diate tighter security was ordered.
Subsequent Events The commission reported
back on May 15, 1990, detailing many faults in the se-
curity system as operated and recommending tight-
ening up other procedures. The airline and the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration (FAA) were blamed;
subsequent claims for compensation against the air-
line were successful. Pan Am filed for bankruptcy in
1991 and ceased operations by the end of that year,
partly as a result of the attack.
The police investigation led eventually to Libya
and the issuing of arrest warrants for two Libyans,
both working for Libyan Arab Airlines. One of them,
Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, a Libyan secret
agent, was found guilty when an international trial
was finally arranged in 2000 at Camp Zeist, the Neth-
erlands. The other, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was
found not guilty. For most of the 1990’s, Libya re-
fused to hand the suspects over, and U.N. sanctions
were imposed. After Megrahi’s appeal was turned
down in 2002, Libya paid compensation to the vic-
tims’ families of $8 million for each victim.
However, a further appeal is still being consid-
ered. Many of the families feel that there was deliber-
ate government obstruction to their efforts for com-
pensation, and some legal experts believe that the
trial was flawed. In such circumstances, conspiracy
theories abound, and the case is by no means closed.
In 1995, President Bill Clinton dedicated a plot to
the victims in the National Cemetery at Arlington.
Syracuse University set up a scholarship fund for stu-
dents of Lockerbie Academy and holds an annual
service of remembrance. Memorials of various sorts
have been created in Lockerbie and at Syracuse.Further Reading
Cohen, Daniel, and Susan Cohen.Pan Am 103: The
Bombing, the Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family’s Search
for Justice.Rev. ed. New York: New American Li-
brary, 2000. The Cohens are one of a number of
families who have struggled for justice and com-
pensation. This is their account.
Cox, Matthew, and Tom Foster.Their Darkest Day: The
Tragedy of Pan Am 103, and Its Legacy of Hope.
Berkeley, Calif.: Grove Press, 1992. Includes a
number of profiles of victims and their families, as
well as of the investigators. Also examines the air-
line’s failures.
Crawford, John.The Lockerbie Incident: A Detective
Tale.Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2006. One of the
fullest accounts of the investigation of the inci-
dent.
David BarrattSee also Air India Flight 182 bombing; Libya
bombing; Middle East and North America; Terror-
ism; USSVincennesincident; West Berlin discotheque
bombing.Panama invasion
The Event The United States invaded Panama
and overthrew the Panamanian government
Date December, 1989
Place PanamaThe 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States was one
of the most significant acts of the George H. W. Bush presi-
dency. This invasion, known as Operation Just Cause, was
touched off by the worsening state of relations between the
two nations.General Manuel Noriega was the military dictator of
Panama in the late 1980’s. Often referred to by the
American media as a “strongman,” he was heavily in-
volved in the drug trade, helping traffickers moveThe Eighties in America Panama invasion 745