On December 21st, 1988, an explosion tore apart a PanAm jumbo jet soon after its departure from Heathrow Airport en route from Frankfurt to New York, killing all 259 passengers and crew. The bomb, concealed on board the Boeing 747, exploded at precisely 7.03 p.m., half-an-hour after taking off from London. The passengers and crew of Flight 103 stood no chance, and the falling debris claimed an additional 11 lives on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
Pieces of the plane were found up to 130 km from its final point of impact, and the bodies of the dead were scattered over a wide radius. The victims came from 21 countries, including Ireland and Britain, and 188 Americans, many of whom were on their way home to celebrate the Christmas holidays.
In a determined bid to find the bombers, British and American investigators carried out some 12,000 interrogations in 54 countries. In 1990, traces of Semtex and fragments of an electronic detonator were found that pointed the finger at Tripoli. Detectives identified the textile fibres of clothing used to surround the Semtex and traced them to Malta where, they believe, a Libyan first registered the suitcase full of explosives that was eventually placed aboard Flight 103 at Frankfurt.
In November 1991, Britain and the United States charged two Libyan agents - Mr Abdel Basset Ali el-Megrahi and Mr Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah - with responsibility for the bombing.
Libya consistently refused to allow the two suspects to stand trial in Britain or in the United States but agreed to a compromise last year under which they would be tried in the Netherlands by Scottish judges.
In 1992, in response to Libya's refusal to hand over the suspects, the UN Security Council ordered an air and arms embargo on Libya and a freeze on its financial assets abroad. Following Saudi and South African mediation, Libyan leader, Col Moammer Gadafy, finally agreed on March 19th to hand the two suspects over to UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, by April 6th, in a deal announced in Tripoli by South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela.
President Mandela said yesterday his confidence in Col Gadafy has been vindicated with the handover of the two suspects.
Mr Mandela told reporters in Pretoria the decision to deliver the two men for trial in the Netherlands had been a difficult one for Col Gadafy. He described the settlement as a team effort between South Africa and Saudi Arabia, with credit also due to President Clinton, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and Mr Annan.
The move is a welcome boost Mr Annan, who has faced questions about UN relevance at a time when the United Nations has been unable to act to halt the bloodshed in Kosovo.
"I am relieved and gratified by this news," he said yesterday after the Libyans had landed in the Netherlands. "This development marks a vital step forward in what has been a long ordeal for all involved, especially the families of the victims," he added.