Gaddafi-IRA compensation: UK took £17m from frozen Libyan assets

The UK government has collected £17m on over £10bn of assets linked to Col Gaddafi which are frozen in the UK.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown meeting Muammar Gaddafi at the G8 Summit in L'Aquilla in 2009. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA WirePrime Minister Gordon Brown meeting Muammar Gaddafi at the G8 Summit in L'Aquilla in 2009. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Prime Minister Gordon Brown meeting Muammar Gaddafi at the G8 Summit in L'Aquilla in 2009. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The news is likely to anger victims of Gaddafi-IRA terrorism which have been pressing Libya for compensation for some time, but have been repeatedly opposed by the government.

The information has been revealed in a report by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee which has pressed the government for months to come clean on the matter.

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Victims of Gaddafi-IRA terrorism previously reacted angrily to suggestions that the UK may have been profiting from the assets privately while publicly blocking their attempts to tap the assets for compensation. Libya previously paid compensation to US, French and German victims of terror attacks it had sponsored.

Garda uncover Libyan weapons shipped to the IRA at Five Fingers beach in Donegal in 1988. Two oil tanks buried in the sand contained over 100 Kalashnikov rifles, five heavy machine guns, explosives and hand grenades. Photo: PacemakerGarda uncover Libyan weapons shipped to the IRA at Five Fingers beach in Donegal in 1988. Two oil tanks buried in the sand contained over 100 Kalashnikov rifles, five heavy machine guns, explosives and hand grenades. Photo: Pacemaker
Garda uncover Libyan weapons shipped to the IRA at Five Fingers beach in Donegal in 1988. Two oil tanks buried in the sand contained over 100 Kalashnikov rifles, five heavy machine guns, explosives and hand grenades. Photo: Pacemaker

The UK Government has now revealed to MPs on the committee that since the start of the 2016-17 financial year, HMRC has collected around £17 million from frozen Libyan assets. Approximately £5 million each year is collected.

The Gaddafi regime’s supply of several shipments of Semtex – a highly powerful, malleable and virtually undetectable plastic explosive – to the Provisional IRA in the mid-1980s led to a deadly campaign of bombings across the UK.

Commenting on the revealed tax figure, Committee Chair Simon Hoare MP said: “The Government claims it has been taking a more ‘visibly proactive’ approach to securing compensation for victims, but it took my Committee to point out that the profits the Government has been accruing from frozen Libyan assets could be put to better use.

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“I am glad the figure has now been revealed to us, and there is now a clear moral imperative for this money to be used to help victims who have suffered for far too long.”

Five pounds of Semtex explosive supplied by Gaddafi to the IRA: Photo: PacemakerFive pounds of Semtex explosive supplied by Gaddafi to the IRA: Photo: Pacemaker
Five pounds of Semtex explosive supplied by Gaddafi to the IRA: Photo: Pacemaker

In the 2015 Parliament, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee called on the Government to establish and finance a reparations fund for victims ahead of the outcome of negotiations with Libya. The information the Government has now revealed about tax accrued from frozen Libyan assets makes it clear that money is readily available to create such a fund, he added.