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Lockerbie Bombing Defendant Moves to Suppress Alleged Libyan Confession

The filing says masked captors ordered him to memorize a script under threats to his family.

Overview

  • The defense filed a motion in U.S. federal court in Washington to exclude statements attributed to Abu Agila Mas'ud from a 2012 detention in Libya.
  • The motion describes abduction by armed men, incommunicado detention in an unofficial facility, and instructions from masked men to repeat a prepared account to officials.
  • An FBI complaint has said Mas'ud admitted involvement while in Libyan custody in 2012 and was later congratulated by Muammar Gaddafi.
  • Scientists have reported genetic profiles from the bomb suitcase lining and an umbrella, which prosecutors are understood to seek to link to Mas'ud.
  • The trial in the United States is scheduled for next April; the 1988 attack on Pan Am Flight 103 killed 270 people and Mas'ud was extradited to the U.S. in 2022.