A top aide to President Barack Obama on Wednesday marked the 23rd anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, vowing that Washington would pursue justice in a newly-free Libya for the 1988 attack.
Obama's top anti-terror advisor John Brennan joined relatives of the victims of the bombing of a US airliner over Scotland, which killed 270 people, at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington.
"The government's investigation into the bombing of Pan Am 103 is still open," Brennan said.
"We have raised this investigation, repeatedly, with the new government of Libya.
"The new leadership of Libya understands the great importance we attach to this matter, and we are working diligently to gain access to any information and individuals associated with this case."
Brennan noted that relatives were marking the attack for the first time since the Libyan revolt that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, who had ruled the country for more than 40 years.
"Unwilling to suffer any longer under the yoke of a brutal dictator, the Libyan people, with international backing, finally cast themselves, and the world --- free of the evil Moamer Kadhafi wrought and free of his legacy of terrorism."
"Today, for the first time, after all these years, we can mark this day, we can come to this hallowed place, knowing that the regime that was responsible for the loss of 270 lives has finally come to an end.
"It is gone from the face of the Earth."
The Obama administration has already called on Libya's new leaders to ensure that convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi serves out the rest of his life sentence.
Megrahi is the only person convicted over the bombing of the jumbo jet over the Scottish town, which killed 259 people on the plane, most of them Americans, and 11 people on the ground.
Cancer-stricken Megrahi was released by Scotland on humanitarian grounds in 2009 after doctors said he had three months to live. He returned to Libya to a hero's welcome and is still alive.
Brennan noted that indictments were also still pending against Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, a Libyan intelligence agent accused in the attack.
Copyright 2011 AFP American Edition
