( CNN ) -- Brian Flynn , brother of a victim aboard downed Pan Am Flight 103 , said Thursday that the killing of former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi is a moment of justice . `` For more than 20 years , ( Gadhafi ) continued to haunt the world , '' he said . `` We can take some satisfaction that justice can be done . '' LIVE BLOG : Latest developments on Gadhafi 's death . A bomb left 270 people dead when it exploded aboard the Boeing 747 as it flew over Lockerbie , Scotland , less than a week before Christmas day in 1988 . The attack ultimately was pinned on Libyan intelligence officials . Flynn 's brother , John Patrick , was one of 35 university students killed in the tragedy . A permanent memorial at New York 's Syracuse University was dedicated to the victims . Read Brian Flynn 's essay . Flynn says he 's been in contact with other victims ' families , who likely shared a range of emotions upon hearing news of Gadhafi 's death . `` We 're all together on this , '' he said of the families . `` This is one of those situations that when ( John Patrick Flynn ) died , I said I promised him and myself that I would n't let it go , that there would be justice , '' he told CNN . `` Today is an example that after 22 years , finally justice is done . I owed him that . '' He says he felt `` the Libyan people have helped me fulfill my promise to him . '' `` We commend and admire the courage of the Libyans , knowing that their freedom has come at a cost , '' Flynn added . `` It 's taken great courage also on the part of the Obama administration to lead the NATO forces against challenging political and diplomatic circumstances , '' he said . U.S. and European war planes began a military campaign against Libyan government forces in March of this year in support of the country 's rebels , helping to eventually oust the longtime strongman in August after more than four decades of near-absolute rule . Gadhafi 's death an answer to little girl 's prayer . `` Part of me thinks this story had to end this way , '' Flynn added , referring to the former Libyan leader 's being killed rather than captured . `` Although it 's sometimes hard to celebrate when someone gets killed brutally , '' he said , `` I think in this case there 's every cause for celebration . `` He was an unrepentant murderer who was oppressive of his people . '' Two years earlier , the only convicted Lockerbie plotter , Abdelbeset al-Megrahi , was freed from a Scotland prison after serving eight years of a life sentence . He was set free on compassionate grounds because he was battling prostate cancer . Al-Megrahi received a hero 's welcome upon his return to Tripoli , enraging many in the United States and Britain . But a Libyan envoy said the new government is not likely to send him back . That country 's ambassador to the United States cited al-Megrahi 's poor health as a factor , saying he is a `` very sick man '' and is `` living with oxygen beside his bed . '' At the time of his release , doctors had said he had only months to live , but al-Megrahi was still alive -- albeit visibly frail -- as of a few weeks ago . So when news reports surfaced Thursday of Gadhafi 's death , Flynn said he took a moment and thought that `` it 's worth it , to get justice . '' U.S. President Barack Obama announced later Thursday that `` today we can definitely say the Gadhafi regime has come to an end . '' Speaking during a White House press conference , he said the United States is committed to Libya and will support the country 's democratic transition . `` You have won your revolution , '' he added , addressing the Libyan people . For others , Gadhafi 's killing also likely marks an end to more than two decades of documenting the Lockerbie tragedy . Two years after the 1988 bombing , Syracuse University Archivist Amy S. Doherty said she contacted the families of the school 's slain students , offering the archives as a place for families to donate `` correspondence , journals , diaries , photographs , newspaper clippings , examples of creative work , video and audio tapes by or about their child or about the events following the disaster . '' The first collection from a victim arrived in September 1990 , according to a university statement . Since then , materials relating to all 35 students have been added . In 2006 , the scope of the archives was expanded to include items pertaining to all 270 victims .
NEW : Obama tells Libyan `` You have won your revolution '' NEW : Lockerbie 's new government is not likely to send back Brian Flynn . NEW : ` ` the Libyan people have helped me fulfill my promise to him , '' Flynn says . Flynn 's brother was one of 35 university students killed in the 1988 bombing .