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| The early morning scene in Lockerbie after Flight Pan Am 103 crashed into the town on December 22, 1988 |
Prosecutors are closing in on two Libyans suspected of being involved in the Lockerbie bombing, it emerged today.
US and Scottish investigators are hopeful they will get permission to interview Abdullah al-Senussi – believed to have been behind the atrocity – and Abu Agila Mas'ud, the suspected bombmaker.
Both men are currently held in a Libyan prison.
Improved relations between Libya and the UK could now see both men questioned by British authorities, The Times reported today.
As Gaddafi's brother-in-law and right-hand man, Senussi has long been suspected of masterminding the bombing of Pan Am 103.
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| Former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, pictured in custody in Libya in 2014, is set to be questioned by UK authorities over the Lockerbie bombing |
The former spy chief, known as the black box of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime was among the most feared figures in Libya.
Mas'ud was a shadowy figure in Gaddafi's regime, who was known as a technical expert.
He was named in the 1999 indictment against Megrahi, but never faced charges
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| Suspected bombmaker Abu Agila Mas'ud is set to be questioned by UK authorities over the Lockerbie bombing |
He was jailed for 10 years in July for using remote-detonated explosive devices to booby-trap the cars of Libyan opposition members in 2011, after revolution broke out.
A Pan Am jumbo jet exploded over Lockerbie on route from London to New York on December 21, 1988. All 259 people on board were killed. Another 11 people were killed on the ground. It is the deadliest ever militant attack in Britain.
Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was jailed for life in 2001 after being found guilty of the attack, in association with others who were never identified. Megrahi was later released because he was suffering from cáncer.
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| All 259 people on board were killed when the bomb went off on the passenger jet in 1988. Another 11 people were killed on the ground. |
In 2003, Muammar Gaddafi accepted Libya's responsibility for the bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families but he did not admit to personally ordering the attack.
Today's development comes after Fayez al-Sarraj, the country's UN-backed prime minister, said his government is willing to extradite Hashem Abedi, wanted for questioning in Britain after the attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in which 22 people were killed.
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| Freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi arrives with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam in Tripoli in 2009 |
Hashem's brother, Salman Ramadan Abedi, was the suicide bomber who carried out the Manchester attack.
The assurances have given police involved in the Lockerbie investigation encouragement, according to the newspaper.
It said officers described Libya's response to diplomatic approaches as 'positive and constructive'.
Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi was the one person convicted for the bombing. He died in May 2012.
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| Hashim Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, could also be extradited to the UK amid an improvement in relations between the UK and Libya |
