PFLP-GC

Founded by Ahmad Jibril in 1968 Favours armed struggle against Israel Rejects peaceful settlement Main sponsors: Syria, Iran Linked to Libya in 1980s

The PFLP-GC was one of two groups named by counsel for the two Libyans being tried for the bombing at a special Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.

It is best known for rejecting any peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and is thought to have several hundred members based in Syria and Lebanon.

"From its establishment the PFLP-GC has concentrated its struggle against the Zionist enemy and its targets inside occupied Palestine," Mr Naji said in an interview in the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.

Surprise

The other group named on Wednesday was the more obscure and now defunct Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF).

The accused: Mr Fhimah (left) and Mr Megrahi

Former PPSF leader Samir Ghosheh - now an ally of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat - also denied any involvement in the bombing in an interview quoted on the AFP news agency.

"We were surprised by the accusation 12 years after the crime. It is an unjust attempt to distract and to blame others," Mr Ghosheh said from his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The lawyers for the Libyans incriminated nine alleged members of the PPSF as well as Muhammad Abu Talb, a Lebanese PFLP-GC member jailed in Sweden for terrorism.

Talb was never arrested in connection with the 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people on a Pan Am flight between London and New York and on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie. He is now named as a prosecution witness.

"Abu Talb has no relationship in any direct or indirect way with the PFLP-GC and he was never a member of the group," Mr Naji said.