In this story:

• Libyan leader initially reluctant to meet
• Gadhafi plays down role in decision
• Britain says it has no hidden agenda
• Related stories and sites

TRIPOLI, Libya (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Saturday his talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on demands for the handover of two suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing had been "fruitful and positive."

"Libya has confirmed its seriousness and readiness to find a solution to the Lockerbie problem," Annan told a news conference in Tripoli after returning from the Libyan desert where he met Gadhafi in a tent.

However, there was no immediate word whether Annan succeeded in his mission: arranging the handover of the two suspects, alleged Libyan intelligence agents, indicted in both the United States and Britain for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie nearly 10 years ago.

Lockerbie 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

A total of 270 died in the crash on December 21, 1988. If surrendered, the two suspects could go to trial before Scottish judges sitting in the Netherlands.

A U.N. spokesman said most of Annan's party remained behind in the coastal town of Sirte, where U.N. and Libyan officials met earlier in the day, while the secretary-general left for the meeting.

Libyan leader initially reluctant to meet

According to Libyan news sources, Gadhafi initially 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

Annan's plane flew from the Tunisian resort island of Djerba to the Libyan capital of Tripoli early Saturday. He then traveled on a Libyan plane to the Sirte, a northern coastal town 280 miles (450 kilometers) east of Tripoli where Annan spoke with Libyan Foreign Minister Omar Mustapha al-Montasser and U.N. ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda.

Fhimah, left, al-Megrahi

Annan told reporters on the flight to Tripoli that he hoped Gadhafi and the Libyan people would have the "courage" to surrender the suspects, 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."

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

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 plays down role in decision

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 says it has no hidden agenda

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook 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."

Correspondent Gayle Young and Reuters contributed to this report.