The bombing killed all 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 and 11 others on the ground RELATED VIDEO CNN's Richard Roth reports on the efforts to begin the trial Real 28K 56K Windows Media 28K 56K  ALSO: Cook, Albright paved way for Annan meeting with Gadhafi

In this story:

• 'A very difficult discussion'
• Gadhafi's role in decision unclear
• Britain: No hidden agenda
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TRIPOLI, Libya (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Libya Saturday, hoping to meet with Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi in an attempt to arrange the surrender and trial of two Libyan suspects in the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. But Gadhafi reportedly was unavailable for the talks.

Libyan state television, monitored in Tunis, quoted the official news agency JANA as saying Saturday, "The U.N. secretary-general might not meet with the leader of the revolution, Moammar Gadhafi, because he (Gadhafi) is in the desert away from the region" of Sirte, where Annan had already started talks with Libyan officials.

JANA reported that Annan had started talks with Libyan Foreign Affairs Minister Omar Mustapha al-Montasser and U.N. envoy Abou Zeid Omar Dourdah.

Annan

Annan's plane flew from the Tunisian resort island of Djerba to the Libyan capital of Tripoli. He then traveled on a Libyan plane to the coastal town of Sirte, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Tripoli.

Annan told reporters on the flight to Tripoli that he hoped Gadhafi and the Libyan people would have the "courage" to surrender the suspects for trial in the Netherlands, but there was no guarantee of a breakthrough in the diplomatic deadlock over the issue.

"The (U.N.) Security Council resolution gives me a very specific task," he said. "I do not intend to go there to negotiate. I will discuss and clarify."

He said clarifications had already been given, "but I am prepared to go over them again if need be."

'A very difficult discussion'

Annan said he was unsure how receptive Gadhafi might be to his proposals.

Fhimah, left, al-Megrahi

"This will be our first encounter," Annan said. "I have no idea what sort of atmosphere it's going to be, what he is like, how he reacts. Obviously, this is going to be a very difficult discussion. It is an issue that has persisted for 10 years."

Libya has been under United Nations sanctions since 1992 for refusing to hand over the suspects, intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah.

The men are accused by the United States and Britain of blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people.

The embargoes would be suspended automatically as soon as the two suspects reached the Netherlands.

The United Nations has arranged to have an aircraft standing by in Italy that could travel to Libya to pick up the suspects on 24 hours notice, diplomats in New York said.

Gadhafi's role in decision unclear

Gadhafi

Libya warned Friday that Gadhafi would not be able to sign a deal to extradite the men when he met Annan.

The diplomatic editor of the official Libyan news agency JANA, which usually reflects Gadhafi's view, insisted Gadhafi was not a head of state or government under Libya's constitution, and that only the Libyan people could decide such matters -- through their "popular committees."

The comment suggested that any decision to hand over the suspects had to be formally approved by some 500 grassroots committees around the country, and then by parliament.

Asked about the comment, Annan responded, "I think Colonel Gadhafi has considerable authority."

Britain: No hidden agenda

British Foreign Secretary had a 15-minute telephone conversation with Annan Saturday before the start of Annan's mission.

Cook's ministry said the Anglo-American offer of a trial in a third country was genuine and serious, and that there was no hidden agenda. But he said there had been no relaxation of a key demand over which Libya has balked.

"The key point on which we are insisting is that, if convicted, the suspects would have to serve sentences in a Scottish prison," a spokesman said.

"But we are happy to put in place international observer structures to confirm that they were being treated properly."

South African President Nelson Mandela telephoned Gadhafi to discuss the issue hours before Annan arrived in Tripoli, Libya's state-run radio reported.

The radio, monitored in Tunis, said Mandela reiterated his country's "solidarity and support to Libya in its fair stand" in the Lockerbie affair.

Mandela, who enjoys cordial relations with Gadhafi, has advocated holding a trial for the two Libyans in a neutral country.

Correspondent Gayle Young and Reuters contributed to this report.