Scottish judges at the Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands yesterday rejected a motion to acquit one of the two Libyans accused of the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing.
Judge Lord Sutherland referred to evidence that Mr AlAmin Khalifa Fahima kept explosives in his desk and knew his co-accused Mr Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.
"We are unable to be satisfied there is no case to answer and must therefore refuse Mr Keen's motion" to acquit Mr Fahima, Lord Sutherland ruled.
The defence lawyer, Mr Richard Keen, had argued on Tuesday the prosecutors' case against Mr Fahima was purely circumstantial and contained no evidence to show he knew of any plan to blow up a plane.
Mr Keen sought to have Mr Fahima released immediately after the prosecution case ended, but the judges, who are operating under Scottish law in a converted air base in the Netherlands, ruled otherwise.
"We have regard in particular to certain entries in the second accused's diary, his association with the first accused with whom he is charged with acting in concert and, crucially, the evidence of [Mr Abdul Majid] Giaka," Lord Sutherland said.
Mr Giaka was a CIA mole who testified for the prosecution and said Mr Fahima kept explosives in his desk at Malta's Luqa airport.
Entries in Mr Fahima's diary, referred to by Lord Sutherland, suggested he knew Mr Megrahi and that he took luggage tags from Luqa airport a few days before the fatal blast.
The judge stressed they were considering the quantity rather than the quality of evidence presented.
Mr Fahima and Mr Megrahi are accused of masterminding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. They have denied the charges.
The trial adjourned until Tuesday to allow Mr Megrahi's team time to prepare its case.