December 8, 1999
Web posted at: 11:52 a.m. EST (1652 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (CNN) -- The trial of two Libyans accused of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Scotland will begin on May 3, a Scottish judge ruled Wednesday. Presiding Justice Lord Ranald Sutherland also dismissed defense arguments that the court did not have jurisdiction over conspiracy charges in the case.

The defense had argued that the conspiracy-to-murder charges be dropped because the bombing, which killed 270 people, had not been planned on Scottish soil.

"I am satisfied that on the basis of what is set out in Charge 1 (the conspiracy charge), Scottish courts do have jurisdiction," he said. "When ... a crime of the utmost gravity has been conspired abroad, it appears to me quite illogical to say that we cannot put the conspirators on trial in Scotland, even though the conspiracy has been entered into abroad."

The suspects have been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and breaches of Britain's Aviation Security Act. The trial date was originally moved from August of this year to February 2, 2000, under Scottish law in the Netherlands. But defense attorney Bill Taylor argued that he had received hundreds of court documents and lists of witnesses only since October, and needed more time.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and breaching the 1982 Aviation Security Act in the bombing, which brought the Boeing 747 down over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. The crash killed all 259 people aboard and 11 people on the ground.

Defense attorneys had argued Tuesday that the Scottish court had no jurisdiction over the conspiracy charge, since no conspiracy was committed in Scotland.

Legal experts noted that the burden of proof for murder was higher than that for conspiracy to murder; loss of the conspiracy charge would have made the prosecution case more difficult.

The defendants have each been charged with 270 counts of murder -- one for each of Pan Am Flight 103's occupants and those killed on the ground.

If convicted, the suspects face up to life imprisonment in Glasgow's Barlinnie jail, Scotland's highest-security prison. Scotland has no death penalty.

Tuesday's appearance was the first for Megrahi and Fhimah since they were brought to the Netherlands in April under a compromise between the United Nations and Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi.

After eight years of wrangling, Gadhafi agreed to allow the two, both allegedly former Libyan intelligence agents, to be tried under Scottish law in neutral Netherlands.

Amid heavy security on the former U.S. air base outside the city of Utrecht, 30 miles southeast of Amsterdam, the defendants wore tweed coats and ties and sat behind bulletproof glass to watch the proceedings. The base's gymnasium has been transformed into a courtroom for the trial.

Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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