Swedish Court Links Arab to Pan Am Case

A court affirmed Monday that a Palestinian facing charges here of murder in an unrelated case is also a suspect in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and it approved the seizure of evidence in his apartment.

Mohammed abu Talb, 35, is believed to be the first suspect to face a court proceeding in connection with the bombing of the jumbo jet on Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

“The court finds that Abu Talb is suspected in Scotland of murder or as an accessory to murder,” the brief District Court ruling said.

Clothing seized in the raid “can be presumed to carry importance for the investigation,” it said.

The court classified its hearing records as secret and ordered any evidence removed from Sweden to be returned when the investigation is completed. Abu Talb, listed in court documents as Abo Talb, appeared at a closed hearing Friday.

A verdict in the case of Abu Talb and three other Palestinians is expected Dec. 21. Their trial ended Nov. 15 on charges of murder and attempted murder in four bombings in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Stockholm in 1985 and 1986.

Jamila Mograbi, who is divorced from Abu Talb but still lives with him, denied that he was involved in the Pan Am bombing but would not discuss the other charges.

Abu Talb is a former member of the Palestine Popular Struggle Front, a group based in Syria.

Mograbi said three Scottish detectives and seven Swedish officers searched the apartment last week for clothing traceable to Malta, virtually emptying the closets and filling 15 plastic bags.

Investigators are said to have identified clothing originating in Malta from the suitcase they believe contained the bomb that downed Pan Am Flight 103.

That flight, bound for New York, switched planes in London.