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US prosecutors have stated that a Libyan man voluntarily admitted to taking part in operations against Americans, encompassing the 1988 Lockerbie incident and an unsuccessful plot to assassinate a US public figure using a rigged overcoat.

Confession Details

Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is said to have acknowledged his participation in the killing of 270 victims when the aircraft was brought down over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, during questioning in a Libyan prison in 2012.

Identified as Mas'ud, the elderly man has claimed that several disguised individuals pressured him to provide the admission after menacing him and his loved ones.

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

Judicial Conflict

In reply, attorneys from the US Department of Justice have stated they can demonstrate in the courtroom that the statement was "willing, credible and truthful."

The presence of the defendant's claimed statement was first disclosed in 2020, when the American authorities declared it was accusing him with constructing and preparing the IED employed on Flight 103.

Defense Allegations

The father-of-six is accused of being a ex- official in Libya's secret service and has been in US detention since recent years.

He has pleaded not responsible to the allegations and is due to face trial at the District Court for the the capital in spring.

His legal team are working to block the court from learning about the admission and have presented a petition asking for it to be excluded.

They contend it was secured under coercion following the overthrow which toppled the Libyan leader in the early 2010s.

Alleged Coercion

They assert previous members of the dictator's regime were being targeted with wrongful murders, seizures and torture when the suspect was seized from his residence by hostile men the subsequent year.

He was taken to an informal detention center where additional prisoners were reportedly beaten and abused and was by himself in a cramped room when several hooded individuals presented him a one page of paper.

His legal representatives stated its handwritten details commenced with an instruction that he was to admit to the Lockerbie bombing and a separate terrorist incident.

Major Extremist Incidents

The suspect asserts he was instructed to learn what it indicated about the events and restate it when he was interviewed by a different individual the following time.

Fearing for his well-being and that of his family, he claimed he believed he had no option but to comply.

In their answer to the legal team's request, lawyers from the American justice department have said the court was being asked to exclude "highly pertinent evidence" of Mas'ud's responsibility in "multiple significant terrorist events against Americans."

Authorities Counterarguments

They assert the defendant's account of incidents is unbelievable and untrue, and argue that the contents of the admission can be supported by reliable independent proof gathered over numerous decades.

The prosecutors claim the suspect and fellow former officials of the former leader's intelligence agency were held in a secret holding center managed by a faction when they were interviewed by an seasoned Libyan investigator.

They argue that in the disorder of the post-uprising era, the center was "the most secure place" for Mas'ud and the additional agents, considering the conflict and opposition sentiment widespread at the period.

Investigation Particulars

According to the law enforcement official who interrogated Mas'ud, the facility was "efficiently operated", the detainees were not bound and there were no evidence of coercion or pressure.

The officer has said that over 48 hours, a composed and well defendant detailed his role in the bombings of Flight 103.

The FBI has also stated he had confessed constructing a bomb which detonated in a Berlin venue in 1986, killing multiple individuals, comprising several American military personnel, and harming dozens others.

Additional Claims

He is also alleged to have detailed his involvement in an attempt on the safety of an anonymous US Secretary of State at a official ceremony in Pakistan.

The defendant is reported to have explained that a person travelling the American politician was bearing a booby-trapped coat.

It was Mas'ud's task to trigger the bomb but he decided not to do so after discovering that the person wearing the garment did not realize he was on a fatal assignment.

He chose "not to trigger the trigger" even though his commander in the agency being with him at the time and inquiring what was {going on|happening|occurring