BRITAIN and the United States last night vowed to bring those responsible for the Lockerbie bombing to justice as people across the world paid tribute to the 270 victims.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton delivered their pledges in messages read out at a 10th anniversary service in Lockerbie, and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook again insisted that the two suspects, if convicted, must serve their sentences in Scotland.

However, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi told Dutch television he wanted the men accused of planting the Lockerbie bomb tried by an international court.

Arrangements have been made for the trial to take place under Scottish law at a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.

The Libyan leader cast a shadow over this proposal when he said: ''An international court is the solution, with judges from America, Libya, England, and other countries.''

Earlier, Mr Cook said he had been encouraged by Libya's recent indications that it was moving towards surrendering the two suspects for trial.

He warned that Britain and the US would not be prepared to compromise on the fate of the suspects should they be convicted. ''This offence took place in Scottish jurisdiction, they're on trial in a Scottish court. It is logical, it is fair, it is right that they should serve their sentence in a Scottish prison,'' Mr Cook insisted.

The town of Lockerbie fell silent last night at 7.03pm, exactly 10 years after the wreckage of PanAm flight 103 ploughed into the heart of the community. Two hundred and seventy men, women and children died in what was the largest peace-time mass murder Britain has seen.

As well as Lockerbie, services were held in London, Washing-ton, and in Syracuse, New York, where 35 of the young victims had attended university.

At the Lockerbie service, Mr Blair's message, read out by Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar, recalled ''a calamity made and perpetrated by men'' which had imprinted itself on the public mind. He declared: ''Today, as we remember those who died and those who mourn, we renew our resolve to establish the truth and to ensure that justice is done.''

The US President's message, read out by the American consul general for Scotland, Ms Cathy Hurst, told those gathered in sombre remembrance in Lockerbie: ''This cowardly act of terrorism outraged not only the people of the United States and Great Britain, but also civilised men and women everywhere.''

President Clinton paid tribute to

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relatives and Lockerbie townsfolk who, he said, had turned sorrow into ''a source of strength for all who stand against terror''.

He declared: ''We mark this milestone at the time of the winter solstice, when the sun begins to reclaim the day. It is a fitting moment to note your extraordinary determination to bring light forth from this tragedy.''

A message from the Queen read: ''Our thoughts and prayers today are with the families and friends of those 270 people, from so many countries, whose lives were tragically taken in the Lockerbie bombing 10 years ago. Time cannot erase their memory.''

The Lockerbie service was deliberately low-key to mark an event that many locals hope will draw a final line under the tragedy.

The sole official event on the 10th anniversary involved the laying of a wreath in the town's cemetery by the Duke of Edinburgh under cold and leaden skies.

Last week, Libya's parliament, the General People's Congress, issued a statement expressing broad satisfaction with a plan to try the suspects, Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi and al-Amin Khalifa Fhimahare, in the Netherlands under a panel of Scottish judges.

It added the caveat, however, that obstacles must be overcome before the two could be handed over. While not specifying those obstacles, the issue of where the two men would be jailed if convicted has proved a stumbling block.

Colonel Gaddafi's latest statement that he wants the men tried by an international court could dent the hopes of campaigners seeking to establish the definitive version of events leading up to the disaster and an early trial in The Hague.

Speaking in London before a memorial service in Westminster Abbey, Dr Jim Swire, the leader of the British families whose relatives died, said there were indications that the Libyans could be released soon.

The impression he had gained from his contacts with the Libyans was that a handover of the two men would occur at the end of Ramadan.

Dr Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, refused to accept that there was ''any linkage'' between the bombing of Iraq and the PanAm jet disaster, although Linlithgow MP Tam Dalyell believes Operation Desert Fox could jeopardise the trial.