UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The Libyan government has asked the U.N. Security Council to give it time to study a U.S.-British proposal to try two bombing suspects in The Netherlands before the council renders its decision on the matter.

The request came on Wednesday, in a letter from Tripoli, and was the Libyan government's first official reaction on the proposal to try two suspects for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing killed 270 people, including 11 on the ground.

The letter said Libya's judicial authorities need more time to study the proposal, announced Monday, and asked for international experts "more familiar with the laws of the states" to help them.

Wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103

"Libya is anxious to arrive at a settlement of this dispute and to turn over a new page in its relations with the states concerned," said the August 25 letter from the Libyan deputy ambassador, Ramadan A. Barg.

For nearly 10 years, Libya has refused to hand over the suspects -- Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah -- saying they would not get a fair trial in either country.

In a January letter to the U.N. Security Council, Libya said it would agree to a trial by Scottish judges in accordance to Scottish law, and said the trial should be at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

The U.N. Security Council must endorse the U.S.-British proposal to try the suspects in The Netherlands, because previous U.N. resolutions stipulated that the trial take place only in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Fhimah, left, and Megrahi

The letter said Libya was surprised to learn the Security Council was already considering a resolution backing the proposal, and that the resolution called for the suspension of U.N. sanctions against Libya if the suspects appeared for trial.

The council met Wednesday to continue its discussions on the proposed resolution. According to the draft, the council would consider further sanctions if Libya failed to promptly turn over the suspects.

The resolution also says the sanctions would only be suspended once Libya complied fully with a French investigation into the bombing of UTA flight 772, which exploded over the Niger desert in September 1989, killing 170 passengers and crew.

Correspondent Richard Roth and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

"The Media & Disasters: Pan Am 103" by Joan Deppa,Maria Russell,Dona Hayes,Elizabeth L. Flocke "Man Made Catastrophes: From the Burning of Rome to the Lockerbie Crash" by Lee Allyn Davis "Libya; The Struggle for Survival" by Geoff L. Simons "Libya since Independence: Oil & State-Building" by Dirk Vandewalle Click here for additional reading on Libya