[Anand Naidoo, World News:] The trial of two Libyan men accused in the world's worst airliner bombing is scheduled to begin in the Netherlands in less than 90 minutes. The men face charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and air security violation in connection with the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. CNN's Colleen McEdwards is at the converted U.S. military base where the trial will be held. She joins us now with the latest. Hi, Colleen.
[Colleen Mcedwards, World News:] Hi, Anand. Over the last half hour or so, people have actually been arriving at the courthouse here at Camp Zeist. I can tell you that the lawyers for the Crown, the prosecution side and the defense side have arrived. There are special UN observers who are here. A Libyan delegation has arrived, and also members of the victims' families. They are here in force. They waited a long time to try to see justice in this case. They lost their loved ones in the crash almost 12 years ago and lobbied hard to have this trial take place. They lobbied the British government. They lobbied the U.S. government. They even lobbied Libya itself in the years when they believed, when they feared that no trial would ever take place. When this trial actually does get under way, just over an hour from now, we are told by the prosecution team that they will begin with that night, December 21, 1988, the night that Pan Am Flight 103 went down over Lockerbie, Scotland. The court will hear evidence from people who were on the scene at the time, people who lived in the town of Lockerbie. Eleven people were killed on the ground. All the people onboard the plane were killed. The court will also hear eyewitness accounts from police officers and civil aviation authorities. Some of the special circumstances around this trial is the fact that it's being held in a neutral third country and the fact that it's being held before a panel of three judges instead of a jury. These provisions were made in exchange for the hand- over of the suspects from Libya. The two suspects are both in their 40s. They are Basset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. The prosecution alleges that both men were Libyan intelligence agents. That is an allegation that both of them deny. They are faced with charges of murder, conspiracy to murder, contravention of aviation security act. And they were surrendered by Libya in April of last year. They've been held here at Camp Zeist since then in a specially designed prison area. It has a large concrete wall around it and a wire fencing around that wall. They are held in two separate cells and also have a common area which they are allowed to use to visit with one another. They have access to television. They have access to exercise facilities, and they can also meet, of course, with their lawyers and family members, who have been here as well. Anand?
[Naidoo:] Thank you, Colleen, for that update. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com