Lawyers for two Libyans charged with the Lockerbie airliner bombing have ended their testimony abruptly today after the trial resumed in the Netherlands following a month's break.
Defence counsel for Mr Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Mr Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, charged with the airline bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, told the Dutch court they could call no further witnesses and would close their case later in the day.
They claimed the Syrian government had a document it has refused to hand over which would prove the innocence of their clients.
Defence have said the document was written by Mr Modbi Goban - a member of the terrorist organisation the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC) which, along with another Palestinian group admit responsibility for the bombing.
But the leader of the PFLP-GC Mr Ahmed Jibril denied the group was involved in the mass murder.
The cessation of defence testimony is expected to bring the eight-month trial to a dramatically closer end. Both prosecution and defence will begin giving their closing submissions tomorrow after which the panel of three judges will consider a verdict.
Mr Megrahi and Mr Fahima deny the charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and contravention of the Aviation Security Act.
The judges who are trying the case under Scottish law in a court room at the former US base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands may return a guilty, not guilty or not proven verdict.
Reuters/AFP