“Finally, please remember that Agela Masud is NOT an alias for Megrahi. He is/was a real ESO agent.”
Intel Today (Feb 8 2010) — Email to FBI Richard Marquise (Head of the Lockerbie Investigation)
December 27 2020 — On the 32nd anniversary of the Lockerbie tragedy, the US DoJ announced new charges against a third former Libyan intelligence operative for his role in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103. In this series, Intel Today provides an analysis of this new indictment. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
RELATED POST: On This Day — Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrates over Lockerbie
RELATED POST: LOCKERBIE — US DOJ to unseal charges against 3rd Libyan [UPDATE — Blast from the Past]
Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…!
QUICK NOTES — To make it easier for the readers to retrieve various chapters of my book, I have created a special page “Lockerbie” where all the links to the chapters will be listed with a brief description. You can access that page directly as it appears at the far right of the top bar of this blog.
On March 11 2020, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission [SCCRC] decided to refer the Lockerbie case back to the High Court of Justiciary for determination. As a result of the Commission’s decision, Mr. Megrahi’s family was therefore entitled to instruct an appeal against his conviction.
The first procedural hearing took place on Friday August 21 2020. The Appeal started on November 24 2020 and ended 3 days later. The five judges will now produce a written submission as soon as practicable.
RELATED POST: Lockerbie Third Appeal — Day 1 (November 24 2020)
RELATED POST: Lockerbie Third Appeal — Day 2 (November 25 2020)
RELATED POST: Lockerbie Third Appeal — Day 3 (November 26 2020)
Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…!
I started this series with a first post about the new story of the “Magic Suitcase”.
RELATED POST: LOCKERBIE — Analysis of the New Indictment [Let us get started!]
Initially, the FBI claimed that Megrahi brought it himself to Malta on December 20 1988.
Now they claim that Masud brought the infamous SAMSONITE suitcase on December 14 1988.
In this post, I would like to review the information available regarding Abu Agela Masud. As always, I will begin wit a timeline.
US IC TIMELINE
1951 — MASUD is born in Tunisia
???? — MASUD moves to Tripoli, Libya, and became a Libyan citizen.
1973 to 2011 — MASUD works for the Libyan intelligence service and rises to the rank of colonel.
2011 — After Colonel el-Qaddafi’s fall, Masud is arrested and imprisoned in Misurata, Libya, before being moved to Al-Hadba prison in Tripoli.
2012 (Sept.) — Masud confessed his role in the La Belle Disco bombing (1986) as well as the Lockerbie bombing (Dec. 21 1988)
2017 — The FBI receives a copy of Masud’s confession
2020 (Dec. 21) — Bill Barr announces charges against Masud. “He is in the custody of the current government of Libya, and we have no reason to think that that government is interested in associating itself with this heinous act of terrorism,” Mr. Barr said. “We are optimistic they will turn him over to face justice.”
The Confession
According to his confession,
Masud worked with Mr. al-Megrahi and Mr. Fhimah to “execute the plot.”
Mas’ud went to Malta with the suitcase that contained the bomb and later set the timer for it to blow up the IED at a time decided by MEGRAHI.
Masud hid the detonator and timer in a technical way that would make it difficult to be discovered, by placing it close to the metallic parts of the suitcase.
He used approximately 1.5 kilograms of plastic Semtex. He said that explosives do not show up on the airport baggage scanner.
Confession coerced or tainted?
A 2017 United Nations report that mentions Mr. Mas’ud raises troubling questions about the treatment of former Libyan officials who were held at various prisons and put on trial after Colonel el-Qaddafi was overthrown.
“Many of the defendants were held in prolonged incommunicado detention, without access to their families or lawyers, and often in isolation, including at unofficial detention facilities, amidst allegations of torture and other ill treatment,” the report says.
Mr. Mas’ud’s suspected role in the Lockerbie bombing received new scrutiny in a three-part documentary on “Frontline” on PBS in 2015. The series was written and produced by Ken Dornstein, whose brother was killed in the attack. As part of his investigation, Mr. Dornstein learned that Mr. Mas’ud was being held in a Libyan prison and even obtained pictures of him. [NYT]
Major Contradiction
Lockerbie investigators determined that the bomb had been placed inside a portable cassette player put aboard a plane and transferred twice before reaching Flight 103.
But Masud’s claims make no reference to such a [TOSHIBA] cassette player. This development has serious consequences that I will discus in a following post.
Could Masud be the ‘Mysterious Buyer’?
On December 7, 1988 both MASUD and MEGRAHI traveled from Tripoli, Libya,
to Malta on separate flights.
According to the indictment, the purchase took place on 7 December 1988.
But contrary to recent lies, the US DoJ does not claim that MASUD bought the clothes to put into the Samsonite suitcase that — they claimed — went on to blow up Pan Am Flight 103.
Actually, it would be hilarious to allege that MASUD bought the clothes from Gauci.
First, Gauci — the shopkeeper — made it clear that the purchaser was Libyan. He could tell by his accent that he was not Tunisian. MASUD was born and educated in Tunisia. And few people can manage to shake off an accent…
For sure, he has a “big chest” and “dark-colored” skin. In case you have not noticed yet, MASUD is a black man. Surely, this feature is enough to rule him out… Perhaps, this is just too subtle for Mr Anwar, the current lawyer for the MEGRAHI family?
RELATED POST: Lockerbie — US DoJ & FBI Press Conference TODAY 15:30 GMT [UPDATE : More lies from Megrahi’s lawyer]
By the way…
US media give Ken Dornstein the credit for discovering the trail that led to MASUD in a series he wrote and produced for PBS in 2015.
If you just take a look at the quote at the top of this post, you will see that US media have no idea what really goes on…
MASUD has been on the radar for a long time. And, according to a CIA document dated Oct. 8 1988, they know him as a TELECOM expert, not a bomb-maker…
A Question for the FBI & CIA
The CIA station in Malta had a Libyan agent — Majid Giaka — keeping them informed of all arrivals and departures of ESO officers to and from Luqa airport in Malta.
Yet, Giaka never reported the arrival of MASUD on December 14 1988. Why on earth not?
Be patient. I promise to offer you the answer on New Year Eve! [Spoiler : FBI Agent Rachel F. Otto deserves a serious spanking.]
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PS — After CIA informant Michael Goleniewski defected to the United States in 1961, he claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia.
Likewise, once relocated in the United States, CIA informant Majid Giaka claimed that he was a member of the King Idris family.
You have to admit this much. The CIA has a knack for recruiting colorful informants!
Former Senior Libyan Intelligence Officer and Bomb-Maker for the Muamar Qaddafi Regime Charged for The December 21, 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
REFERENCES
US DoJ Website : Former Senior Libyan Intelligence Officer and Bomb-Maker for the Muamar Qaddafi Regime Charged for The December 21, 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT
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LOCKERBIE — Analysis of the New Indictment [Who is Abu Agela Masud?]
Intel Today 