Instantly, the judge in the case, not to mention several relatives of Lockerbie victims, cast doubt on Shaaban's claim. Steven Emerson, a journalist who writes about terrorism shares that skepticism about Youssef Shaaban's claim to have blown up Pan Am 130.

STEVEN EMERSON, Journalist: This is essentially the equivalent of a stay of execution for the man who is about to be found guilty by a judge of executing a Jordanian diplomat, and who is likely to face a death sentence or be extradited back to Jordan. By proclaiming his awareness, knowledge and, indeed, his actual carrying out of the bombing of Pan Am 103, he now conveniently provides an excuse for the United States authorities to come in and demand to interview him, to postpone the proceedings, and possibly even to initiate extradition proceedings, perhaps in his own mind, but certainly this is something gives him an excuse, and I think that skepticism is well warranted.

SIEGEL: I mean, you think that Mr. Shaaban, whatever the truth may be, suddenly said that he had some involvement or was in some way responsible for the Pan Am 103 explosion in order to in some way get out of the death sentence in this trial in Beirut.

Mr. EMERSON: Well, I think it's impossible to really know on what level to take to his admission. There are multiple levels on which to accept the authenticity of the claim. The first and most apparent is irrational, calculated self-interest. He wants to get an apparent death sentence that's likely to ensue. On another level, he might have been put up to this charge and this admission by the Libyan government itself, which wants to get out of the increasing sanctions that its been subjected to for the bombing of Pan Am 103.

SIEGEL: Now, the Libyan government is held accountable by the United States. What, if any, role was the Abu Nidal group ever, or what has anyone ever suspected them of doing with relation to Pan Am 103? Anything?

Mr. EMERSON: Well, interestingly enough when the bombing of Pam Am 103 occurred, the Abu Nidal group was at the list of top suspects, and in fact was considered a top suspect for about three months following the bombing. So, it's an interesting turn of events at this point for the Abu Nidal group now to claim credit when, in fact, it had denied it vehemently at that point.

It's very unusual for this type of admission to occur in a court of law regarding these types of terrorists. Also remember there's a lot of cross pollination. Many terrorists are terrorists for hire. They work for various groups at different times. We don't know what he was doing back at the time of the bombing of Pan Am 103 for sure. He has certainly not come up on the radar screen of counter-terrorist agencies. And if what he says is true, he single-handedly at the age 22 carried out one of the most devastating acts of terrorism in post-World War II history. It's unbelievable to a certain extent.

SIEGEL: Let me just ask you, on the- what seems to be the off chance that indeed Shaaban was telling the truth today, is there some piece of evidence that really argues against him very strongly, that he could not have done it because we know that, and then fill in the blanks.

Mr. EMERSON: Well, I don't think there is anything at this point that one can say that he could not have done it definitely until we see the evidence that he's presenting. And FBI officials are on their way to collect the evidence in the embassy in Beirut as we speak now. I don't know if they're going directly to Beirut, but certainly U.S. officials will be distributing the material to the FBI for their evaluation. I think on the basis of that material they'll be able to determine whether the evidence is credible. And then they'll have to figure out is this guy personally privy to that evidence.

SIEGEL: Freelance journalist Steven Emerson.

[The preceding text has been professionally transcribed. However, in order to meet rigid distribution and transmission deadlines, it has not been proofread against audiotape and cannot, for that reason, be guaranteed as to the accuracy of speakers' words or spelling.]

Palestinian Claims Credit for Bombing Pan Am 103., All Things Considered (NPR), 06-13-1994.