By Ena Saracevic
Copyright scotsman
A Libyan national accused of building the bomb that brought down Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie 36 years ago claims he was forced into making a false confession. Abu Agila Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi has said he was in custody in Libya when three masked men ordered him to memorise information about the destruction of Pan Am 103 and another terror attack, reports the BBC. The 74-year-old said he repeated what he had learned to a Libyan official, under duress, after the men threatened his family. Masud’s lawyers have asked a federal court in Washington to rule the alleged confession inadmissible in advance of his trial in April next year. Details of the alleged confession were first made public five years ago after the US department of justice announced it was charging Mas’ud over the atrocity which claimed the lives of 270 people on December 21, 1988. A criminal complaint summary compiled by the FBI claimed he had admitted playing a key role in the attack when he was in detention in 2012, following the collapse of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime the previous year. Make sure you keep up to date with news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here. The bureau said Mas’ud had talked of being involved in the plot along with other members of the Libyan intelligence service. Afterwards, he was said to have been congratulated in person by the Libyan dictator, who had told him he had performed “a great national duty” against the Americans.
