WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday postponed the U.S. trial of the Libyan man accused of building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, setting aside jury selection scheduled for Wednesday after prosecutors disclosed previously undisclosed evidence to the defense over the weekend.

The third postponement in a case pending since 2022 pushes what would be the first American trial over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing into next year, meaning a verdict for the worst terror attack in British history may not arrive until nearly four decades after the 270 deaths.

The new evidence

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich did not specify the nature of the material in her order, according to Fox News and CBS News. Defense lawyers for Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi told the court that "constitutional and ethical obligations require the defense to investigate this development," and asked for time to review what prosecutors had turned over. The BBC reported that Friedrich has set a new start date in January and scheduled a Sept. 1 status hearing in Washington.

Al-Marimi, in his mid-70s, has been in U.S. custody since December 2022. He is charged with two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. He has denied building the bomb that broke Flight 103 apart at 31,000 feet on Dec. 21, 1988.

The victims

Kara Weipz, president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group, told the BBC she was "floored" by the news. Her brother, Richard Monetti, was among 35 Syracuse University students killed in the attack, which took the lives of 190 Americans, 43 Britons and citizens of 19 other countries.

Weipz told The Associated Press her group had received no details on what caused the delay but said the postponement could still be worth it if the new evidence advanced the case. "At the same time, for almost 38 years we've been seeking the truth of what happened," Weipz said. "If that's what this is, then that's a good thing, and this delay is worth it."

The prosecution's case

Prosecutors say Al-Marimi carried out the attack at the direction of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and worked as an explosives expert in Libyan intelligence from roughly 1973 until Qaddafi was ousted in 2011. Investigators allege Al-Marimi delivered a suitcase containing the bomb to an airport in Malta, from which it moved through Frankfurt and London before it was loaded onto Flight 103. A confession Al-Marimi is said to have made in a Libyan detention facility in 2012 and handed to Scottish investigators in 2017 is central to the case.

Al-Marimi has said the confession was false and made under duress. Friedrich has ruled it admissible at trial.

The counter view

The delay hands Al-Marimi's lawyers additional time to attack the evidence that anchors the government's case, an outcome the prosecution had resisted through months of pretrial battles. Laura Buchan, head of the Lockerbie investigation team at Scotland's Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the adjournment "will be disappointing for the families and for those who have followed this case over many years," and declined to discuss why the trial was moved.

The next public step in the case is Friedrich's Sept. 1 status hearing in Washington.