British government prides itself on being a champion of human rights but they are also leading suppliers of weapons of war

Your Letters contributor S Hanna (‘Irish American supporters of IRA should pay IRA victims,’ February 11) suggests that Irish American supporters of the IRA should pay compensation to IRA victims as the weapons used were most likely bought by money raised by Irish Americans to support the Sinn Fien IRA campaign of violence.

Perhaps S Hanna should look closer to home for this compensation.

In 2007, an agreement was reached on co-operation between Tony Blair and Colonel Gaddafi on defence matters in the training of specialised Libyan military units, special forces and border security units.

Despite the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 and the killings of 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing in Scotland in 1988, the British government approved for export to Libya military hardware which included projectile launchers, explosives, crowd control ammunition, small arms ammunition, teargas/irritant ammunition, electric batons, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and explosives.

Britain’s professed ‘ethical dimension’ to foreign policy in relation to the export of arms to suspect regimes did not appear to apply to Libya.

The British government prides itself on being one of the world’s leading champions of human rights and peace, but they are also one of the world’s leading suppliers of weapons of war. They are also masters of double standards.

Tom Cooper, Dublin