Relatives of the 270 people killed in the Lockerbie tragedy marked the 20th anniversary of the incident yesterday in Scotland.

The Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town on Dec. 21, 1988, killing all on board as well as 11 local residents on the ground, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.

Special "places to remember" were opened in Lockerbie for low-key remembrance events.

Earlier, one of the commemorations was held in the Garden of Remembrance, which has been built on the site where the plane came down in Lockerbie.

Lisa Vickers, US consul in Edinburgh, was present at the ceremony.

"There were 180 people that were American citizens on board that flight, 35 of them students at Syracuse University and we still remember very much the events of that night 20 years ago," she said.

Some 300 people including relatives and some former employees of the Pan Am airline also attended a private memorial at Heathrow Airport chapel.

Alex Salmond, first minister of Scotland, said: "I know that through the events being organized in Lockerbie, at Syracuse University, and at other locations in the UK and the US, that fitting tribute will be paid to those who so tragically lost their lives and those, in south of Scotland and beyond, whose lives have been affected by the atrocity."

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, was found guilty of mass murder following a trial at CampZeist in the Netherlands in 2001. However, he has denied responsibility for the bombing and a second appeal against his conviction will be heard by the courts next year, said the report.