A representative of the new Libyan government has been invited to attend a memorial service for victims of the Lockerbie bombing in the United States.

Libya’s Ambassador to the US Ali Aujali is scheduled to address relatives of the victims at the annual service at Arlington National Cemetery.

It is thought it will be the first time a Libyan politician has attended an event to commemorate Lockerbie.

December 21 is the 23rd anniversary of the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988.

All 259 passengers and crew on board Pan Am 103 were killed when a bomb exploded in its forward hold at 30,000 feet. Another 11 people died when the wreckage fell on Lockerbie.

In 2001, a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands ruled that the bombing had been carried out by a member of the Libyan intelligence service, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Megrahi was jailed for life but later diagnosed with terminal cancer and released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government in 2009.

Officials had advised Government ministers that the Libyan had around three months to live. More than two years later, he is still alive in Tripoli.

Following the collapse of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime, prosecutors at the Crown Office requested the assistance of the new Libyan Government as they seek fresh evidence in connection with the bombing.

Megrahi was convicted on the basis that he had acted along with others in the plot to destroy Pan Am 103. Scottish police officers want to interview a number of former members of the Libyan intelligence service.

Other speakers due to address the Arlington Service include Scotland’s top law officer, the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC.

IN DETAIL

Lord Advocate: We will redouble Lockerbie efforts