During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Libya supplied guns and explosives to the IRA, and the families of their victims want the country to face up to its responsibilities. Now Relatives of IRA terrorist victims have once again renewed their calls for compensation from Libya following the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
The relatives are calling on the Libyan leader to demonstrate the same compassion shown to Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi; the terminally-ill bomber was released from a Scottish prison last week. Families of victims killed by Libyan weapons believe their hand has been strengthened by Megrahi's release, which has caused a political and diplomatic row on both sides of the Atlantic.
Relatives have called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support the families in their quest. Libya was once a sponsor of worldwide terrorism, including support for the IRA, but its leaders and the country and has come in from the cold. Back in 2003, Libya took responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which claimed 270 lives, mostly American. It also abandoned efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Five years later, Col Gaddafi reached a final compensation agreement with the US over Lockerbie and other bombings.
What was that Gordon? The sound of silence perhaps…would not want to upset the lucrative trade and energy deals would we…
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