Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, was in court on Thursday as legal representatives discussed airline baggage policies in place at the time.
Mr Masud, now in his mid-70s, limped into court accompanied by two marshals and remained silent while listening to his translator convey details of the pretrial hearing.
One of the pieces of evidence that caused the most debate in the district court in Washington was a Telex message composed and sent by Pan Am about how to handle certain luggage.
“In the event of a no-show, into the belly of the plane the baggage goes,” the Telex communique read, referring to passengers who, for whatever reason, did not make it on to their flights while their luggage did.
Investigators have long said the bomb that exploded on board was sneaked into a suitcase in Malta and eventually placed on Flight 103 at London Heathrow Airport.
District Judge Dabney Friedrich told US prosecutors that part of that message would be able to be admitted as evidence during the imminent trial but not the entire Telex they initially requested. Prosecutors say the evidence is crucial in that it helps to establish the security loophole that Mr Masud allegedly exposed to carry out the bombing.
All 259 people on board perished in the terrorist attack over which Mr Masud is accused and 11 on the ground in Lockerbie were killed by falling debris shortly after the Pan Am flight took off from London on December 21, 1988. Of the victims, 190 were US citizens.
Only one person, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, has been convicted of the bombing. Al Megrahi died in 2012.
Jury selection for Mr Masud's trial is scheduled to begin on August 25.
In February, a dispute developed as to whether or not Mr Masud's confession made to a Libyan investigator in 2012 would be permissible to use at trial.
Mr Masud later claimed he had made a false confession under duress, also alleging he had been threatened, assaulted and forced to lie about being the man who built the bomb.
Also in February, a Libyan investigator who questioned and obtained a confession from Mr Masud – referred to as Jamal in court transcripts – took the stand.
“I never investigated a crime which included more than two deceased people,” he told US prosecutor Erik Kenerson. “The importance of the event and the size of the crime was the reason why I took the decision to record the interview.”
According to court transcripts seen by The National, US prosecutors say the man who interrogated Mr Masud did not see any injuries on him and that his demeanour did not reflect someone who had just been assaulted or threatened.
“He said that after he delivered the suitcase in the Malta airport and came back to Libya, he heard there was an explosion that happened on board a US plane,” Mr Masud told US prosecutors. “And he said that was the same plane that was targeted.”
The judge has yet to rule on whether or not Mr Masud's testimony can be admitted.
The US government filed charges against him in 2020, arrested him in 2022 and he pled not guilty in 2023.
Mr Masud’s health problems have delayed the start of his trial and his challenge to the confession leading to his arrest has also complicated the judicial process.
