Chronology of Lockerbie bombing affair
1988
Dec 21 - Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 aboard and 11 on the ground died.
1991
Nov 14 - The United States and Britain accuse Libyans Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima of involvement in the bombing. Libya denies any involvement.
1992
March 23 - Libya's U.N. ambassador says suspects will be handed over to Arab League. West rejects conditions attached.
March 26 - International Court of Justice in the Hague hears Libyan requests that it consider dispute and issue interim order barring United States and Britain from military action.
March 31 - U.N. Security Council Resolution 748 tells Libya to surrender suspects by April 15 or face worldwide ban on air travel and arms sales, and restriction on diplomatic presence.
April 15 - U.N. air and arms embargo takes effect, subject to review every 120 days. April 30 - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says Tripoli will not hand over the suspects but they are free to surrender.
June 24 - Libya's General People's Congress says suspects can go on trial in a "just and fair" court supervised by the United Nations or Arab League.
1993
Sept 29 - Libya says it no longer objects to the suspects standing trial in Scotland but is leaving the decision to them.
Nov 11 - U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 883 tightening sanctions against Libya.
1994
Jan 22 - Gaddafi says trial in the Hague could resolve row.
1995
March 23 - FBI offers record $4 million reward for information leading to arrest of the two suspects.
April 19 - Libya sends flight of Moslem pilgrims to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia despite the air embargo. It repeats the flight in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
1996
June 22 - Gaddafi flies to Cairo, defying ban, to attend Arab summit.
July 5 - U.N. sanctions committee says Moammar Gadhafi's flight violated U.N. sanctions and it will consider recommending tougher curbs if there is a repetition.
1997
April 28 - U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a ruling that Libya has sovereign immunity shielding it from a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Lockerbie victim.
June 11 - Libya tells U.N. secretary-general that sanctions have cost it $23.5 billion.
Sept 25 - The United States and Britain reject request from African leaders and Russia to allow Lockerbie suspects to be tried outside Scotland or the United States.
Oct 13 - Eight-day hearing begins at International Court of Justice to determine whether it has jurisdiction to hear Libyan complaint against Britain and United States. In February the court decides it does.
1998
April 21 - Libyan lawyer for the suspects says he has reached agreement with the victims' families on a Netherlands trial under Scottish law.
July 21 - Britain and the United States agree that the two Libyans can face trial in the Hague.
Aug 24 - The United States, Britain and the Netherlands agree a plan to try the men in the Netherlands under Scottish law. The Security Council gives unanimous backing on August 27.
Sept 29 - Libya says it will not surrender the suspects if they have to serve jail terms in Scotland.
Dec 15 - Libya's General People's Congress says it is satisfied with the trial plans.
1999
March 19 - After assurances about the trial from Saudi King Fahd and South African President Nelson Mandela, Libya agrees to hand them over on or before April 6.
April 5 - The suspects are handed over and flown to the Netherlands; the U.N. later suspends sanctions against Libya.
April 6 - The suspects appear before the court and are charged with the bombing and 270 murders. They are fingerprinted, photographed, give DNA samples and are held on remand. Russia and Gulf nations hail their handover. Britain suspends financial sanctions, but not the United States.
April 20 - European Union suspends sanctions against Libya.
June 7 - A Scottish court grants a defence request to delay the trial by an extra six months.
Dec 7 - Suspects appear in open court for the first time.
Dec 8 - Presiding judge upholds a defence motion to delay the start of the trial until May 3.
2000
Feb 2 - Suspects plead not guilty, in their absence, at a pre-trial hearing in the High Court in Edinburgh.
March 7 - Scottish judge rules that British and U.S. broadcasters may not broadcast the trial.
April 27 - Scottish judge rejects a prosecution request to postpone the trial, which will begin on May 3.