Lockerbie bombing suspect says confession was forced, defence says

A Libyan man accused of building the explosive that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 says he was forced into making a false confession, his lawyers said as he prepares for a United States trial next year. Abu Agila Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, 74, is charged in the United States with constructing the device that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people — 259 aboard and 11 on the ground in Dumfriesshire. Masud was extradited to the United States in 2022 to face those charges, and prosecutors have said the confession details were publicized years earlier after charges were announced.

Masud’s lawyers filed a motion to suppress the statements, arguing the circumstances of his arrest — including incommunicado detention and a system in Libya used by some to detain suspects amid human rights concerns — render the confession inadmissible. They contend he was abducted by armed men, separated from his family, held in an unofficial prison facility, and denied procedural rights. While in custody, he reportedly saw others who had been beaten or abused. The men then directed him to read a short paper and memorize its contents, threatening him and his family if he did not comply.

Masud’s account describes being removed from his home by masked men in post-revolution Libya, then left in a small room with three men who wore civilian clothes and covered faces and did not identify themselves. He says the men did not reveal who they were but appeared to Masud to be revolutionaries. The defense argues that Masud began to comply with their instructions after fearing for the safety of his six children.

Masud was extradited to the United States in 2022 to face charges linked to the Lockerbie bombing. Details of the confession were publicly disclosed roughly five years earlier when prosecutors announced the charges. Prosecutors say the case will hinge on presenting evidence that Masud built the explosive and that he was involved in planning the attack, a claim the defense seeks to challenge by questioning the reliability and admissibility of his statements.

Authorities have pursued other lines of evidence as well, including forensic work tied to the crash. Scientists have studied genetic material from items connected to the investigation, including the lining of a suitcase and an umbrella found in the aircraft’s luggage compartment, in an effort to corroborate or challenge Masud’s involvement. Prosecutors hope to link those genetic profiles to Masud as part of the broader case.

In a separate but related thread, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, another Libyan who was convicted of planting the Lockerbie bomb by a Scottish court in 2001, was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 and died of cancer in 2012. The Lockerbie attack remains Britain’s deadliest terrorist atrocity, with 270 people killed when the aircraft was destroyed over Scotland.

The legal proceedings continue as Masud’s trial is scheduled to begin next year in the United States, with prosecutors seeking to establish a direct link between Masud, the device used in the attack, and the fatal outcome that left families around the world grappling with unspeakable loss.