Pay up for the pain
Published Date:
24 September 2007
FIRST Minister Ian Paisley is preparing to take on Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi in a diplomatic battle to secure billions of dollars compensation for IRA victims.
The DUP has confirmed it is to request UK and US government pressure is applied to Libya.
It wants Gaddafi to settle the civil action being taken against him by IRA victims in the US courts, which is similar to the Lockerbie air disaster compensation case.
It is the first sign of diplomacy being pursued in tandem with the law suit.
Jeffrey Donaldson is to meet Secretary of State Shaun Woodward on the matter.
The DUP MP said: “We want to press the case internationally and the First Minister and the DUP will weigh in heavily to back the campaign which, to date, has been a legal one.”
He added, the UK and US must recognise their responsibility because it was as a direct result of Thatcher-Reagan foreign policy that Gaddafi returned to backing the IRA in the 1980s.
The planning of a diplomatic effort begins today when Mr Donaldson and colleague Ian Paisley Jnr will meet victims’ group FAIR at Stormont.
See page 7
The full article contains 197 words and appears in News Letter newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
23 September 2007 4:27 PM
-
Source:
News Letter
-
Location:
Belfast
