U.S. prosecutors have stated that a Libyan national, Abu Agila Mas’ud Kheir al-Marimi, freely confessed to his involvement in attacks targeting Americans. These alleged confessions reportedly include the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people, and a foiled attempt to assassinate a U.S. politician using a bomb concealed in an overcoat.
Mas’ud, 74, is said to have made these admissions in 2012 while being questioned in a Libyan detention facility. However, his defense team is actively working to prevent this statement from being used as evidence in his upcoming trial in Washington next year, asserting that he was coerced and threatened.
The U.S. Department of Justice, in response, maintains that the confession was voluntary, reliable, and accurate, and that they can prove this in court. The existence of this alleged confession first came to light in 2020 when the U.S. formally charged Mas’ud with constructing and arming the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.
Mas’ud, who is accused of formerly serving as a colonel in Libya’s intelligence service, has been in U.S. custody since 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his trial scheduled to commence in April at the District Court for the District of Columbia. His defense is seeking to have the statement suppressed, arguing it was obtained under duress in the volatile post-revolution period in Libya.
The defense claims that Mas’ud was abducted by armed men a year after the fall of Colonel Gaddafi and taken to an unofficial prison where inmates faced abuse. They allege that he was forced to memorize a confession related to the Lockerbie bombing and another terror attack while alone in a room, fearing for his and his family’s safety.
Prosecutors counter that Mas’ud’s account is implausible and unsupported, noting that independent evidence corroborates his confession. They also point to his alleged willingness to decline a lethal assignment in the presence of his superior as evidence of his lack of susceptibility to coercion.
The Libyan police officer who reportedly conducted the interviews stated that the facility was well-run, prisoners were not restrained, and there were no signs of torture. Mas’ud, described as confident and healthy during the questioning, detailed his alleged involvement in the Pan Am 103 bombing, as well as a 1986 bombing at a West Berlin nightclub that killed three people, including two U.S. servicemen.
The confession was reportedly kept secret by the Libyan officer for three years until 2015, when it was handed over to a senior Libyan government official, before eventually reaching U.S. investigators in January 2017.