Six quizzed over Lockerbie

The judges adjourned the case for one day

Police have interviewed six people over the last two weeks as a result of new information received by prosecutors in the Lockerbie trial.

The Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, told the Scottish court in the Netherlands that five of those spoken to were in Europe, while the sixth was in the United States.

He said the new information was complex and sensitive and that the people involved were concerned about their security.

Details, along with a file which is more than an inch thick, were passed to the defence teams on Monday.

They asked Lord Sutherland to adjourn the trial until Tuesday - when it is expected that they will say how long they need to examine the new material before the trial can resume.

Trial details

The two accused are Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, 48, and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, 44

Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, killing all 259 people on board and another 11 on the ground

The two men deny three charges - murder, conspiracy to murder and a breach of the 1982 Aviation Security Act

The trial is taking place in a Scottish courtroom at Camp Zeist, in the Netherlands

The case is being heard by three Scottish judges

The judge, who last week expressed concern about the trial's slow progress, said on Monday that it was inevitable that the defence would need time to "consider their position".

But he added: "No doubt the defence is as anxious as anyone else to try and ensure that some progress is made as rapidly as possible in this case, which is beginning to grind along rather slowly."

Two Libyans - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, 48, and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, 44 - are on trial accused of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988.

The trial was halted on Tuesday 10 October after the court heard that "sensitive" information had been given to the prosecution by an unnamed government.

Mr Boyd said then that the information related to the defence case and it was impossible to proceed without further enquiries.

Last week the panel of judges reluctantly granted the second adjournment and expressed concern about the slow progress of the case.

Under Scottish legal procedure, the defence is entitled to carry out its own investigations into the new information.