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US legal authorities have claimed that a Libyan individual willingly confessed to being involved in attacks against American targets, including the 1988's Lockerbie incident and an aborted attempt to assassinate a American public figure using a explosive-laden overcoat.

Statement Details

Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is alleged to have acknowledged his participation in the murder of 270 people when Flight 103 was exploded over the Scotland's area of the region, during interrogation in a Libya's detention facility in 2012.

Referred to as Mas'ud, the elderly man has claimed that several masked persons pressured him to provide the statement after intimidating him and his loved ones.

His legal representatives are trying to block it from being utilized as proof in his court case in Washington in 2025.

Judicial Battle

In answer, lawyers from the American justice department have said they can prove in legal proceedings that the confession was "voluntary, reliable and correct."

The availability of the suspect's purported confession was originally disclosed in 2020, when the American authorities announced it was charging him with creating and activating the bomb used on Pan Am 103.

Defendant's Allegations

The father-of-six is accused of being a previous official in Libya's secret service and has been in American confinement since 2022.

He has stated not responsible to the charges and is expected to stand trial at the federal court for the District of Columbia in the coming months.

The defendant's legal team are working to prevent the court from being informed about the confession and have filed a petition asking for it to be withheld.

They assert it was obtained under duress following the revolution which toppled the Libyan leader in 2011.

Alleged Intimidation

They say former officials of the ruler's regime were being targeted with unlawful killings, seizures and abuse when the suspect was abducted from his residence by armed individuals the next period.

He was moved to an informal detention center where additional inmates were reportedly beaten and mistreated and was by himself in a tiny space when several disguised men handed him a one sheet of material.

His lawyers said its scripted information began with an instruction that he was to confess to the Pan Am Flight 103 incident and a separate terrorist incident.

Substantial Extremist Events

Mas'ud claims he was told to memorise what it said about the incidents and restate it when he was interviewed by someone else the next day.

Fearing for his security and that of his family, he stated he believed he had no option but to obey.

In their answer to the legal team's motion, lawyers from the US Department of Justice have said the court was being asked to exclude "very significant evidence" of the suspect's guilt in "multiple significant terrorist events targeting US citizens."

Government Rebuttals

They assert the defendant's version of occurrences is unbelievable and untrue, and assert that the details of the admission can be supported by credible external evidence assembled over many decades.

The government attorneys say Mas'ud and fellow previous officials of the former leader's intelligence agency were detained in a secret prison operated by a militia when they were interviewed by an experienced Libya's police officer.

They contend that in the chaos of the post-revolution era, the center was "the most secure place" for the defendant and the additional agents, considering the violence and resistance attitude widespread at the period.

Questioning Details

According to the police officer who questioned the defendant, the facility was "properly managed", the prisoners were not bound and there were no signs of torture or coercion.

The officer has said that over 48 hours, a self-assured and well Mas'ud described his role in the bombings of the aircraft.

The FBI has also claimed he had confessed building a bomb which exploded in a German nightclub in 1986, killing several individuals, including two US military personnel, and wounding many more.

Further Allegations

He is also said to have described his involvement in an attempt on the lives of an unnamed US foreign minister at a official ceremony in the Asian country.

Mas'ud is reported to have described that an individual travelling the US figure was carrying a booby-trapped coat.

It was the suspect's assignment to detonate the device but he chose not to proceed after finding out that the individual bearing the garment did not understand he was on a suicide mission.

He decided "not to push the button" even though his superior in the intelligence service being alongside at the time and inquiring what was {going on|happening|occurring