Defence lawyers accuse Palestinians of Lockerbie bombing

Defence lawyers at the Lockerbie trial in Holland have accused Palestinian groups of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. The lawyers have been making their opening submissions at the trial of two Libyans accused of the bombing, in which 270 people were killed. The proceedings began with the reading of an indictment accusing the two of hiding a time-bomb in a suitcase with the intention of blowing up the plane. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The Crown Prosecution alleges that Abdelbaset Al Magrahi, and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, are agents of the Libyan Intelligence Services and were part of a conspiracy from January 1985 to December 1988 to commit acts of terrorism, in particular, the bombing of a civilian aircraft and the murder of its' passengers and crew. They are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder and the destruction of an aircraft contrary to the 1982 Aviation Security Act. The prosecution alleges that the two obtained timing devices and explosives, built a bomb in a radio cassette player and place aboard Flight 103 at Malta Airport.

Dressed in traditional Libyan robes with black hats, the accused listened while their defence was entered. Under Scottish Law, an accused person can in turn accuse someone else of the crime. The two Libyans named nine other people including a member of the Salvation Front Organisation and the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine general command.

The special court and prison complex where the trial is taking place has cost more than £12 million sterling to construct and its operating costs are estimated at more than £2.5 million per month. Because of the length and complexity of the case there will be no jury. Instead a three-member panel of senior Scottish judges will issue a verdict. The trial is expected to last for more than a year. The prosecution has listed more than 1,000 possible witnesses, the defence has indicated it may call 119 witnesses.

The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has rejected a suggestion that the two alleged Libyan agents accused of the bombing were acting under his orders. In an interview with Sky television, Colonel Gaddafi dismissed the question as absurd. The interview was broadcast shortly before the trial of the two men opened near the Dutch city of Utrecht. Under an arrangement brokered by the United Nations, the trial is taking place in a Scottish court sitting at a former military air base, Camp Zeist.