Amsterdam - The eight-month-old trial of two Libyans accused of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing moved dramatically nearer an end yesterday when defence lawyers abruptly closed their cases.
The announcement came just as proceedings resumed after a one-month break. The defence, which had requested the break to collect fresh evidence, had been expected to call a number of witnesses over several weeks.
The Libyan defendants, Mr Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Mr Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, deny planting the bomb that exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 and killed 270 people.
Prosecution and defence will begin their final submissions today after which the panel of three judges, who are hearing the case in a special Scottish court at a former US airbase in the Netherlands, will retire to consider its verdict. Trial watchers said a verdict could come at the start of next week, or even late this week.