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Families express anger and relief at start of Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial

Jim Swire, spokesman for relatives of British victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing and whose daughter Flora was aboard the plane, says he felt "relief" at the start of the trial.

May 3, 2000
Web posted at: 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT)

CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (CNN) -- After more than 11 years of waiting, relatives of some of the 270 people killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blasted from the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, were able to see the men accused of planting the bomb.

The trial of Libyans Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima got under way Wednesday at Camp Zeist, a former U.S. Air Force base in the Netherlands that has been converted into a high-security Scottish court.

VIDEO CNN's Colleen McEdwards looks at what one victim's family's reaction to the start of the trial. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

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About 40 relatives of victims of the crash sat nearby as the defendants plead not guilty to the charges. The U.S. Justice Department is paying for travel expenses of the American relatives.

"To see the trial actually rolling into action today brings on a tremendous feeling of relief, and a certain degree of pride because I think we've played an active part, a significant part in allowing this to take place," said Jim Swire, a spokesman for relatives of British victims. Swire's 24-year-old daughter Flora was aboard the plane.

Bert Ammerman, whose brother Thomas was killed in the bombing, said seeing the defendants was overwhelming.

"As soon as the door opened and the two of (the defendants) walked in, there was a feeling of calm and relief, and I have to believe my brother was part of that," Ammerman said. "I remember thinking and saying to my brother, 'Tommy, we did it.'"

John Grant, a law professor at the University of Glasgow in Scotland who is following the case, cautioned against expecting too much from the trial.

Bert Ammerman, whose brother Thomas was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 103, says the first time he saw the defendants was "overwhelming".

"One of the sad things is that the families may not get the definitive answer some think they're going to get," Grant told Reuters.

Relatives of the victims already have said they will call for an independent inquiry into the bombing once a verdict is declared. The trial is expected to last more than a year and could cost more than $90 million.

Correspondent Nic Roberts, Colleen McEdwards and Reuters contributed to this report.