'Victims Of IRA Attacks Using Libyan Explosives Should Be Compensated'

The next UK government should finance a compensation fund for victims of IRA attacks using Libyan explosives, a committee of MPs said.

Successive administrations were accused of "two decades of failure" to seek money from the North African country and letting down many bereaved and injured across the UK.

Ministers after the General Election must order a pension or payment by the end of the year, even if negotiations with the Arabs are not possible, before time runs out for victims, parliamentarians said.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee accused former Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour administration of missing a vital opportunity to secure payouts in the early 2000s, compounded by further omissions by successor governments.

Chairman Laurence Robertson said:

"The UK government cannot allow this litany of missed chances to continue.

"There needs to be direct dialogue with the Libyan Government, and if the situation there makes this impossible, the government must begin the process of establishing a fund themselves."

Bombings using toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi's weapons included an attack on Harrods department store in 1983, an Enniskillen Remembrance Day ceremony blast in 1987, attacks in Warrington in 1993 and a truck bomb blast in the London Docklands in 1996.

Victims of IRA attacks using Libyan Semtex, a plastic explosive frequently deployed across the UK, are pressing for UK Government support in their campaign for compensation from massive amounts of frozen assets seized from the toppled Gaddafi administration.

While the US, France and Germany negotiated multimillion-pound settlements with Muammar Gaddafi for its citizens impacted by Libyan-directed terrorism, the previous Labour government in the UK has been heavily criticised for not striking a similar deal.

The report concluded: "We believe that, with sufficient determination, the UK government should be able to reach an agreement.

"But, as one of our witnesses said: 'it requires somebody to bang on their door, not with a wet sponge, but (with a) bang'."

A Foreign Office spokesman said:

"The government supports UK victims of Gaddafi-sponsored IRA terrorism in their attempts to seek redress from the Libyan authorities.

"The next government will respond to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee's report in due course."

Cover image courtesy Dean Molyneaux.