The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, says he may visit Libya next week for talks on bringing to trial the two Libyans accused of carrying out the Lockerbie bombings.

Two-hundred-and-seventy people were killed when a Pan-Am airliner was blown up over Scotland in 1988.

Mr Annan, who is resuming a visit to North Africa, said it had been suggested that a visit would help if there was no breakthrough in resolving the dispute by the end of this month.

His comments follow weeks of talks between Libyan and UN lawyers on a proposal from Britain and the United States for the suspects to be tried in the Netherlands, rather than Scotland or the United States as originally demanded.

The BBC UN correspondent says the Libyan leader, Colonel Gadaffi, appears close to making a decision on handing the men over, and that a a visit by Mr Annan may provide him with an opportunity to so.