December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York is blown up 31,000ft over Lockerbie. The 259 people on board are killed. Eleven people on the ground also died.

November 13, 1991: The Libyans Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah are indicted on 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and violating Britain’s 1982 Aviation Security Act.

April 15, 1992: UN Security council imposes sanctions after Libya refuses to hand suspects for trial.

1998-1999: Libya says it will accept a trial under Scottish law but in a neutral country, such as the Netherlands. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, and Nelson Mandela, fly to Tripoli, the capital of Libya, to meet Colonel Gaddafi to persuade him to hand over the suspects.

Bomb fear in UK's worst air disaster

About 300 people were killed last night when a Pan American Boeing 747 crashed and exploded on the small town of Lockerbie

• Houses 'like an inferno'

• Devastation lit by leaping flames

• Libyan agent gets 20 years for Lockerbie

April 5, 1999: Suspects flown from Tripoli to the Hague and taken into Dutch custody and charged with bombings.

May 3, 2000: A specially convened Scottish court sits in Camp Zeist for the trial opening.

January 31, 2001: al-Megrahi is found guilty. A minimum sentence of 20 years is recommended. Mr Fhimah is found not guilty.

February 7, 2001: al-Megrahi lodges appeal which begins 11 months later.

March 14, 2002: He loses appeal.

March 15, 2002: al-Megrahi spend his first night in a Glasgow prison at the beginning of his life sentence.

June 10, 2002: Mandela calls for al-Megrahi to serve sentence in Muslim country, a move ruled out by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

June 14, 2003: Lawyers for families of Lockerbie victims say an agreement has been reached with Libya on compensation payment.

September 23, 2003: Bomber issues new appeal.

November 24, 2003: al-Megrahi is told he must serve at least 27 years. His sentence was increased after a change in the law meant he had to come before the Scottish courts for sentence to be set.

May 31, 2004: He challenges his new 27-year term.

June 28, 2007: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has been investigating the case since 2003, recommends that al-Megrahi is granted a second appeal against his conviction.

October 15, 2008: He wins latest round of overturning conviction. Six days later, lawyers reveal al-Megrahi has “advanced” prostate cancer.

October 30-31, 2008: al-Megrahi applies to be released on bail, pending appeal. Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the Lockerbie bombing, says keeping Megrahi behind bars while he battles cancer “would amount to exquisite torture” and says he should be released on common humanity.

April 28, 2009: al-Megrahi’s legal team claim evidence for conviction was “wholly circumstantial”.

July 25, 2009: He asks to be released on compassionate grounds.

Times Recommends

• 5 Christmas romance confessions
• Has champagne lost its sparkle?
• Your tailor-made Christmas