The Libyan man accused of constructing the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie has claimed he was coerced into making a false confession.
Abu Agila Masoud, 74, is alleged by US prosecutors to have built the device that killed 270 people when the airliner exploded on 21 December 1988. He now says masked men forced him to memorise details of the attack and another terror plot while in custody in Libya, before threatening his family if he failed to comply.
Masoud’s lawyers have filed a motion in a federal court in Washington, requesting that the confession be ruled inadmissible ahead of his trial scheduled for April 2026. They argue he repeated the details to a Libyan official under duress, describing the statement as unreliable.
The confession first emerged publicly in 2020 when the US Department of Justice announced charges against Masoud. According to the FBI, he allegedly admitted his involvement while detained in 2012, a year after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The bureau said Masoud described working with Libyan intelligence and being praised by Gaddafi personally for carrying out “a great national duty” against the United States.
Of the 270 victims, 190 were American citizens. The Lockerbie attack remains the deadliest terrorist strike on British soil.
The only previous trial linked to the case saw Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi convicted in 2001. He was later released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer and died three years later in Tripoli.
Masoud has pleaded not guilty. His defence team claims that, in post-revolution Libya, those linked to the former regime faced retaliation, intimidation, and arbitrary detention, making any alleged confession unreliable.
