CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands -- Relatives of American victims of the Lockerbie tragedy voiced skepticism Tuesday that the trial of the two Libyans accused of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 will settle questions surrounding the world's deadliest act of air terrorism.
The long-awaited trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday at a Scottish court located on Dutch soil. About a dozen relatives of the American victims arrived in Amsterdam early Tuesday to attend the proceedings 40 miles away at Camp Zeist, a former U.S. air base that was turned into an $18 million high-security courtroom and detention center."I am hoping for justice and truth, but I don't think we'll get either," said Rosemary Wolfe, whose 20-year-old stepdaughter Miriam Luby Wolfe died in the Dec. 21, 1988, attack that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
Up to 40 family members from several countries were expected to attend the early sessions.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and endangering the safety of an aircraft in the bombing of the U.S.-bound flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.
After interviewing 15,000 witnesses and collecting 180,000 pieces of evidence, prosecutors are convinced they have the culprits, who they claim are Libyan intelligence agents.
But the resignation of the Scottish chief prosecutor, evidence that other terrorist groups could have been responsible and reports of witnesses changing their testimonies have raised doubts.
"What we are about to confront is a farce," said Susan Cohen of Cape May Courthouse, N.J.
She suspected the men were surrendered in a deal to absolve Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of responsibility for his country's alleged sponsorship of terrorism. "These guys are just pawns," Cohen said. Her husband, Dan, distributed photographs of their 20-year-old daughter Theodora, who died in the explosion. "This is why we are here," he said.
"The people who are really responsible are who we are after," said Kathleen Flynn, whose son John Patrick Flynn was returning from a European study program when he was killed. "We hope the truth will prevail."
The relatives were escorted out of the bustling airport. They then traveled by bus to a hotel near Camp Zeist. The U.S. Justice Department paid for their travel.
They will be given priority seating in the courtroom's public gallery, behind bulletproof glass.
Scottish court authorities said they were trying to keep the trial as routine as possible, despite high emotions, hundreds of reporters and heavy security.
The court will hold sessions almost daily through July 28 before adjourning until Aug. 22, officials said.
Early witnesses include British aviation experts, as well as police and investigators who sifted through the debris of the exploded jetliner after the crash.
The trial was expected to cost $3 million a month, mostly paid by Britain.
Libya's ambassador visited the two defendants Monday in their detention block -- an area surrounded by high concrete walls and bales of barbed wire, officials said.
They said the defendants were being treated like any suspect held in pretrial custody in a Scottish jail. They receive visits from relatives and friends and meet each other and with staff members each day.
In 1992, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Libya trying to force the surrender of the defendants. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi refused, contending the men would not get a fair trial in Britain or the United States.
The two men were handed over in 1999 after the United States and Britain reached a deal with Gadhafi for the two suspects to stand trial in an extraterritorial Scottish court proceeding that was unprecedented in international law.