Muslim IRA victim condemns terror attack

Ihsan Bashir’s brother, Inam, was killed in the IRA bomb attack on London Docklands in 1996.

Speaking the day after this week’s Westminster attack by Khalid Masood, Mr Bashir said: “As a Muslim and victim of IRA terror I know that terrorists do not care who gets killed or maimed. Islam is a religion of peace.”

Mr Bashir is a member of the Docklands Victims Association (DVA), which met Northern Ireland Office junior minister Kris Hopkins at the group’s offices in London yesterday.

DVA has around 500 members, including victims of both IRA and the 7/7 Islamic terror attacks in London. Many of them gathered at their London office yesterday to hold a minute’s silence and say prayers for those caught up in this week’s Westminster attack.

DVA spokesman Jonathan Ganesh told Mr Hopkins that it was “inappropriate” that US terror victims were compensated by Libya for that state’s sponsorship of IRA terrorism, but that UK victims were not.

“And we also asked him why English victims of IRA terrorism are excluded from government support which is given to victims in Northern Ireland?”

Last month the government was accused of blocking a bill which would allow frozen Libyan assets in London to be used to compensate IRA victims.