BELFAST (Agencies)
British parliamentarians travelled to Libya at the weekend to press for compensation for families of Irish Republican Army (IRA) victims who say Muammar Gaddafi's government helped arm the paramilitaries.
The campaigners say the Libyan authorities shipped Semtex explosives in the 1980s and 1990s to the IRA, which was fighting to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
Jeffrey Donaldson, a lawmaker from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who is among the six-strong party, said that while discussions had already been held on the issue, this would be the first face-to-face meeting with Libyan ministers in Tripoli.
He said the families of some victims were seeking individual compensation for their loss, but the visit had a wider aim.
"What we are also trying to achieve is the establishment of a peace and reconciliation fund that will help to promote peace in Northern Ireland and move us beyond the legacy of the conflict... and we believe the Libyans can contribute towards the establishment of such a fund.
"We will be putting the case directly to the Libyan government," he told the BBC before flying to Libya for the three-day trip.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Labour Party is also represented in the delegation, said last month he supported the families' campaign.
"I hope that when they hear some of the stories they might understand what exactly these weapons of mass destruction and Semtex have done," said Manya Dickinson, whose father was killed by an IRA bomb in 1990.
Although members of the victims' families were not invited for the talks, the fact that the visit was taking place was welcomed as a sign of progress in the campaign for compensation.
Lawyers for the victims said in a statement: "The victims view this as a significant step forward, as well as recognition by both countries that their plight will not be overlooked as Anglo-Libyan relations develop.”
"They sincerely hope that, following the parliamentarian team's visit, Libya will review its position toward them and appreciate that they wish to visit Libya in the spirit of peace and reconciliation."
Links between the IRA and Gaddafi are thought to stretch back as far as 1972, and Czech-made Semtex explosives understood to have been supplied by Libya was one of the IRA's most lethal weapons in its terror campaign. |
