Washington DC - A US federal judge cited new evidence for postponing on Monday the trial of a Libyan man accused of making the bomb that destroyed a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people.

Jury selection for the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, who allegedly worked as an intelligence operative for the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi between 1973 and 2011, had been due to start on Wednesday.

Judge Dabney Friedrich cited "newly discovered evidence" and "evidence located in other countries" as the reason for postponing the trial.

No new trial date was set, but a court hearing was set for September 1.

Masud has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the "destruction of an aircraft resulting in death." If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Pan Am Flight 103, bound for New York, was blown up 38 minutes after it took off from London, sending the main fuselage plunging to the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie and spreading debris over a vast area.

The bombing – which is the deadliest-ever terror attack in Britain – killed all 259 people on board, including 190 Americans, and 11 people on the ground.

Masud has been in US custody since 2022, after being extradited from Libya.

Only one person has so far been convicted for the bombing.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi spent seven years in a Scottish prison after his conviction in 2001. He died in Libya in 2012, maintaining his innocence.