US Prosecutors Assert Libyan National Freely Confessed to Lockerbie Attack

US prosecutors have claimed that a Libyan national man voluntarily confessed to taking part in operations targeting Americans, including the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 attack and an unsuccessful conspiracy to assassinate a US politician using a booby-trapped overcoat.

Statement Details

Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is reported to have admitted his involvement in the deaths of 270 victims when Pan Am 103 was exploded over the Scotland's town of Lockerbie, during questioning in a Libyan detention facility in 2012.

Identified as Mas'ud, the elderly man has claimed that three hooded persons forced him to deliver the statement after intimidating him and his loved ones.

His legal representatives are trying to prevent it from being employed as proof in his trial in Washington next year.

Legal Dispute

In reply, legal counsel from the US Department of Justice have stated they can demonstrate in legal proceedings that the admission was "willing, reliable and accurate."

The availability of the defendant's claimed confession was first disclosed in the year 2020, when the United States announced it was indicting him with constructing and preparing the explosive device used on the aircraft.

Defendant's Assertions

The defendant is charged of being a ex- official in Libya's intelligence service and has been in American confinement since 2022.

He has pleaded innocent to the allegations and is due to stand trial at the District Court for the District of Columbia in spring.

His lawyers are attempting to prevent the jury from learning about the statement and have submitted a petition asking for it to be suppressed.

They contend it was obtained under coercion following the overthrow which overthrew the former dictator in the early 2010s.

Alleged Pressure

They claim previous personnel of the leader's regime were being victimized with illegal deaths, kidnappings and torture when Mas'ud was seized from his dwelling by armed persons the following period.

He was moved to an informal detention center where fellow inmates were allegedly assaulted and harmed and was by himself in a tiny room when several disguised men handed him a single sheet of material.

His legal representatives stated its manually written contents began with an instruction that he was to confess to the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing and an additional terrorist incident.

Significant Extremist Incidents

Mas'ud states he was instructed to learn what it said about the events and restate it when he was questioned by another person the next time.

Worrying for his well-being and that of his family, he stated he believed he had no option but to acquiesce.

In their response to the legal team's request, lawyers from the American justice department have said the tribunal was being petitioned to withhold "very significant evidence" of Mas'ud's guilt in "multiple major terrorist events targeting Americans."

Prosecution Responses

They assert the defendant's account of events is unbelievable and untrue, and contend that the details of the confession can be verified by reliable external proof assembled over numerous decades.

The legal authorities state the suspect and other previous personnel of Gaddafi's intelligence agency were detained in a secret detention facility operated by a armed group when they were questioned by an seasoned Libya's law enforcement official.

They contend that in the turmoil of the post-revolution era, the center was "the protected environment" for Mas'ud and the other operatives, accounting for the hostility and resistance sentiment prevailing at the time.

Interrogation Particulars

Based to the investigator who interviewed Mas'ud, the location was "well run", the detainees were not bound and there were no signs of abuse or intimidation.

The officer has said that over two days, a confident and well Mas'ud detailed his involvement in the bombings of the aircraft.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also asserted he had acknowledged creating a bomb which exploded in a German nightclub in the mid-1980s, killing several people, comprising two US military personnel, and wounding numerous more.

Other Accusations

He is also said to have recounted his role in an conspiracy on the safety of an unnamed US foreign minister at a state funeral in Pakistan.

The defendant is reported to have stated that a person accompanying the US official was bearing a booby-trapped garment.

It was the defendant's assignment to detonate the explosive but he opted not to do so after discovering that the individual bearing the coat did not realize he was on a suicide mission.

He chose "not to activate the device" even though his superior in the agency being alongside at the moment and inquiring what was {going on|happening|occurring