Libya vow to fight IRA compensation
THE son of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has vowed to fight the relatives of IRA victims in the courts.
Speaking on Monday, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said: "They have their lawyers, we have our lawyers."
Mr Gaddafi's remarks come after Gordon Brown offered his support to IRA victims seeking compensation from Libya, after outrage greeted the revelation that he had told them it would not be "appropriate" for him to get involved.
Mr Brown announced the U-turn after talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Earlier, victims campaigners slammed Mr Brown for not pressing Colonel Gaddafi for compensation for IRA bomb victims, citing deals struck with Tripoli by British oil companies.
Only hours later, however, Mr Brown said he thought the IRA victims themselves, not the Government, stood the best chance of persuading Libya to compensate them.
He said: "I desperately care about the impact of all IRA atrocities on the victims, their families and communities.
"The Libyans have refused to accept a treaty or normal intergovernmental agreement on this issue.
"As a result, our judgment has been that the course more likely to bring results is to support the families and their lawyers in their legal representations to the Libyan authorities.
"We will appoint dedicated officers in the Foreign Office and our Embassy in Tripoli who will accompany the campaign group to meetings with the Libyan government to negotiate compensation, the first of which will be in the next few weeks."
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed the statement by the Prime Minister and said "he will hold him to his word".
The Lagan Valley representative added: "It is our expectation that the Government will now provide diplomatic support for our efforts to secure compensation from the Libyan government for the victims of IRA terrorism.
"We are hoping to send out a delegation to Libya early in October to meet their representatives to discuss the issue of compensation.
"Hopefully now Great Britain will stand with us in our fight to secure proper recognition from the Libyan government for the suffering inflicted on so many lives because of their state sponsorship of the IRA.
"This turnaround would not have happened had it not been for the determination and courage displayed by those victims and we hope that the Libyan government will now change their view in the way our own Government has been forced to change their stance."
DUP MP Nigel Dodds said he and other MPs had campaigned for Government support for the victims for many years.
"I think the Government's approach up until now has been sadly lacking and has not put the needs of victims first.
"The proactive approach of other governments has to be contrasted with what has heretofore been a lacklustre approach by the Government."
But he said the move was: "Welcome, if belated. It is good news for the victims."
Victims' campaigner Willie Frazer, from Families Acting for Innocent Relatives, said: "The Government did us a favour by letting the Libyan terrorist out.
"This is the biggest U-turn any Prime Minister has done. It just shows you, it is nine years we have been at it and we are finally starting to get there.
"From all angles it is looking very good and we have to welcome it although it is unfortunate he did not do it when we told him he should.
"When the cause is just you should not have to fight with your own Government for it. But there still is a long way to go."
The US has already secured compensation totalling 1.5 billion dollars for American victims of Libyan-sponsored terror.
On Sunday it was also revealed that Mr Brown wrote to lawyers for the British victims last year to tell them that it would not be "appropriate" for ministers to press Colonel Gaddafi on the issue because it might jeopardise relations with Libya.
Downing Street rejected suggestions that the PM was fearful of undermining lucrative oil and trade deals, and Mr Brown's close Cabinet ally Ed Balls said the overriding objective was to encourage Libya to cooperate over terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
A lawyer for the victims, Jason McCue, said he was "overjoyed" by Mr Brown's support, which he suggested could enable a compensation claim "to be cleared up within a matter of weeks".
Mr McCue said it was "a great day for victims" because Gordon Brown had made a "principled decision" that "listened to ordinary folk rather than bureaucrats".
"I am confident that his moral and logistical backing for the British victims of Libyan semtex will ensure that they now receive justice and compensation, as did the US victims when they received the support of their president," he said.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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