A Lockerbie bombing suspect has asked a judge in Washington DC to throw the case out of court amid claims he was illegally removed from Libya to stand trial in the US.
Abu Agila Masud is charged with making a bomb that blew up a plane over Lockerbie killing all 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded above the town in 1988. He denies all charges.
Alleged abduction and rendition
The plane was 40 minutes into its flight from London to New York. The federal prosecution of the Libyan man, also known as Mas-ud, gets underway on January 19, 2026, but the accused has now alleged he was abducted by armed men and handed over "hooded and bound" to FBI agents, who had a plane waiting to fly him out of the country.
Mas-ud claims he was subject to an unlawful rendition in a "cloak and dagger operation conducted in the dead of night" when he was extradited from Libya to the US in 2022, and has asked a judge to throw the case out of court.
The US Department of Justice said, under American law, the manner of his removal should not stop his thrice-postponed trial from finally getting underway in the new year, according to the BBC.
Details of the alleged seizure
Mas-ud's account of what happened is detailed for the first time in papers lodged with the court by his legal team.
The US government charged him with destroying the airliner in December 2020, and formally requested his "extradition, expulsion or otherwise lawful removal" from Libya to stand trial.
At the time, Mas-ud was in custody in Libya, serving a jail sentence for attacking rebel forces during the uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
He was released from prison on "compassionate grounds" on September 30 2022 and returned to his family in Tripoli, according to Mas-ud.
About two weeks later, a group of armed men, many wearing masks, came to his house and rearrested him, without telling him why or who they were.
Defence lawyers claim his "abduction" was reportedly carried out by a militia with "a reputation for brutality and disdain for human rights".
They allege Mas-ud was dragged across the floor "with no care for his health and mobility issues", that his son was beaten with a rifle, and that his wife and daughter were attacked.
They said the grandfather was taken to a prison in the city of Misrata, about 116 miles (187km) east of Tripoli, where he was placed in solitary confinement for several days.
Transfer to FBI custody
Mas-ud said his captors gave him a sandwich and some tea and told him to pack his belongings on the morning of December 11, 2022. He expected to be released, but instead he was handed over to the FBI.
A US government aircraft was waiting at Misrata airport when Mas-ud arrived with a "loosely fitted cloth hood" over his head. His escorts asked the FBI to hurry up because people were watching and he was placed on the plane.
The Libyan authorities handed over a plastic "trash bag" containing some of his belongings, including a Quran, a prayer rug, clothing, toiletries, and medicine.
On the flight to the US, the FBI questioned Al-Marimi, performed a "head to toe medical examination" and provided him with clean clothes and blankets, his lawyers said.
They claim the prime minister of the Tripoli-based Libyan government, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, later secured financial investment from the United States, including $16m (£12m) to secure Libya's transition to a democratic state and a contract with US oil giant Honeywell International.
Al-Marimi argues that the process amounted to an unlawful rendition and forcible abduction, removing the Washington court's jurisdiction over the case.
The defence says the militia group staged an illegal kidnapping when diplomatic negotiations stalled, in a process which showed "an utter disregard for Libyan law and sovereignty."
His lawyers said: "This is not the rule of law. This is the rule of the strong. Mr Al-Marimi's rendition sends a chilling message to the people of the world: 'If we want you, we will take you'. Mr Al-Marimi must be returned to Libya."
The US Government said that, under longstanding legal doctrine, the court's jurisdiction was not contingent on the manner by which the defendant had been brought before it, even if that included forcible abduction.
The prosecutors said limited exceptions to that rule did not apply in Mas-ud's case.
The defence has asked for a hearing so it can argue its case before Judge Dabney Friedrich.
The-then Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, the head of Scotland's prosecution service, told the Scottish Parliament she had received confirmation that Mas-ud was transferred to US custody "on a lawful basis".
