Memorial Held To Mark 25th Anniversary Of Lockerbie Bombing
ARLINGTON, Va. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A memorial service was held at Arlington National Cemetery Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Attorney General Eric Holder, who spoke at the service, said that no amount of time or distance can ease the pain or erase the loss.
On December 21, 1988, the 747 bound from London Heathrow to JFK Airport exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.
All 259 people on board were killed, including 35 students from Syracuse University and 38 passengers from New Jersey. Eleven people on the ground were also killed, bringing the total number of victims in the terror attack to 270.
A memorial was also held at Syracuse University on Saturday afternoon. More than 100 people gathered at Hendricks Chapel on the campus to remember the 35 students who were killed.
The service was followed by a procession to the university's Wall of Remembrance.
Former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was convicted of planting the bomb that brought the plane down and was jailed in 2001. In 2009 he was released and returned home on humanitarian grounds, claiming he had three months to live due to prostate cancer.
In 2003, Libya took responsibility for the bombing, agreeing to pay up to $10 million to relatives of each victim.
Memorials were also held in London and Scotland.
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