US Judge Allows Lockerbie Bombing Suspect's Confession as Evidence

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the alleged 2012 confession of Libyan national Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir Al‑Marimi can be admitted at his federal trial in Washington, D.C. The confession, obtained by a Libyan police officer while Al‑Marimi was detained in Libya, details how a suitcase bomb was moved from Libya to Malta and then entered the international baggage system, leading to the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988. The statement also implicates former Libyan intelligence operative Abdelbaset al‑Megrahi and former airline official Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah in the plot.

Al‑Marimi, who has pleaded not guilty, has been in U.S. custody since December 2022. The trial, delayed for years, is set to begin later this month. The bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft and 11 people on the ground, including 190 Americans and 43 British citizens. Relatives of American victims welcomed the decision, calling it another step toward justice after decades of legal proceedings.