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American prosecutors have asserted that a Libyan man freely confessed to participating in attacks against US citizens, encompassing the 1988 Lockerbie attack and an aborted attempt to kill a American politician using a booby-trapped overcoat.

Statement Information

Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is alleged to have confessed his involvement in the murder of 270 victims when Pan Am 103 was destroyed over the Scotland's area of the region, during questioning in a Libyan prison in 2012.

Identified as the suspect, the elderly man has asserted that multiple masked men pressured him to provide the admission after intimidating him and his loved ones.

His legal representatives are working to stop it from being employed as evidence in his trial in DC in 2025.

Legal Battle

In response, attorneys from the American justice department have declared they can demonstrate in court that the confession was "unforced, trustworthy and truthful."

The existence of the defendant's purported statement was first made public in the year 2020, when the American authorities stated it was charging him with constructing and activating the IED utilized on the aircraft.

Defendant's Assertions

The father-of-six is alleged of being a former colonel in Libya's secret service and has been in US confinement since 2022.

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

Mas'ud's legal team are attempting to stop the court from being informed about the admission and have submitted a request asking for it to be withheld.

They assert it was secured under coercion following the revolution which removed the Libyan leader in 2011.

Alleged Pressure

They assert former personnel of the dictator's government were being singled out with wrongful deaths, kidnappings and mistreatment when the suspect was seized from his dwelling by armed men the following time.

He was transported to an unofficial prison facility where other inmates were allegedly abused and abused and was alone in a small room when several masked individuals gave him a single sheet of documentation.

His lawyers said its handwritten contents began with an instruction that he was to acknowledge to the Lockerbie attack and an additional terror attack.

Substantial Terror Events

The defendant claims he was told to memorise what it said about the events and recite it when he was questioned by someone else the next morning.

Worrying for his security and that of his family, he said he thought he had no option but to obey.

In their reply to the defense's petition, lawyers from the American justice department have stated the tribunal was being petitioned to withhold "extremely relevant evidence" of Mas'ud's responsibility in "two major terror attacks against US citizens."

Government Rebuttals

They assert the defendant's version of incidents is unbelievable and inaccurate, and argue that the information of the admission can be corroborated by credible external testimony collected over numerous decades.

The legal authorities say the defendant and fellow former officials of the dictator's intelligence agency were held in a secret holding center operated by a militia when they were questioned by an experienced Libyan law enforcement official.

They argue that in the chaos of the post-uprising period, the center was "the most secure environment" for Mas'ud and the other operatives, considering the hostility and anti-Gaddafi feeling prevailing at the period.

Investigation Particulars

Per to the police officer who interrogated Mas'ud, the facility was "properly managed", the inmates were not confined and there were no indications of coercion or pressure.

The official has claimed that over multiple sessions, a confident and healthy Mas'ud detailed his involvement in the attacks of Pan Am 103.

The FBI has also claimed he had confessed building a bomb which exploded in a German club in 1986, claiming the lives of multiple persons, comprising two American military personnel, and harming numerous others.

Other Allegations

He is also alleged to have described his role in an plot on the life of an unidentified American diplomatic official at a public event in the Asian country.

The suspect is reported to have explained that a person travelling the American figure was bearing a rigged overcoat.

It was Mas'ud's assignment to detonate the explosive but he opted not to proceed after discovering that the individual bearing the garment did not understand he was on a deadly operation.

He decided "not to trigger the device" despite his commander in the secret service being with him at the period and asking what was {going on|happening|occurring