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IRA victims criticise PM on Libya 'U-turn' for PM on Libyan pay-out
(about 6 hours later)
Families of IRA victims have criticised the government for failing to put pressure on Libya to pay compensation. Gordon Brown has confirmed the UK will support compensation claims being made against Libya by IRA victims' families.
They say Libya should pay compensation because it supplied the IRA with explosives used in atrocities. The government has been criticised for its closer ties with Libya by victims of the IRA, which was supplied with explosives by Tripoli.
Libya paid compensation to American families as part of a deal to normalise relations with Washington last year. Mr Brown insisted his government's priority had been to ensure Libya renounced terror and nuclear weapons.
But Gordon Brown told a victims' lawyer it was not "appropriate" to intervene and declined to put formal pressure on Libya, No 10 has confirmed. Opposition MPs said the prime minister's "U-turn" undermined his authority and made Britain look weak.
The government has denied claims it refused to press for compensation because of fears of jeopardising oil deals with Libya. Speaking in Berlin, where he was meeting the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Mr Brown said a "dedicated" team of officials would now help seek compensation for the families.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls conceded British companies had lobbied the government over trade with Libya, but insisted there was no evidence that they had swayed its decisions. Shadow foreign secretary William Hague and DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson both described the move as a U-turn.
"Nobody is saying - including in the case of compensation - that trade or oil or economics was getting in the way of doing the right thing," he said. We have forced a U-turn, it's not every day you can say that. Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP MP
But Jonathan Ganesh, a security guard who survived the Docklands bombing in 1996, said he was not convinced by the government's denials. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said the government had made the move after Mr Brown said it would "not be appropriate" to have "bilateral discussions with Libya on this matter" last year.
"I was badly injured myself and children in the UK have been murdered due to Libyan semtex and basically what's the government going to do about it? Secure an oil deal for BP? I think that's appalling," he said. A lawyer for the victims, Jason McCue, said he was "overjoyed" by Mr Brown's support, which he suggested could enable a compensation claim "to be cleared up within a matter of weeks".
Colin Parry, whose 13-year-old son Tim was killed in Warrington in 1993 by an IRA bomb thought to be made from Libyan Semtex, said the UK government "looked weak". 'Desperately care'
"It does make Britain look very, very weak and insignificant if, for reasons of worrying about oil deals or other economic considerations, this government of ours is prepared to disregard all the pain of the thousands of victims of IRA terrorist campaigns," he said. Mr Brown said he thought the IRA victims themselves, not the government, stood the best chance of persuading Libya to compensate them.
'Strongly opposed' He said: "I desperately care about the impact of all IRA atrocities on the victims, their families and communities.
Mr Brown's office released a letter written by the prime minister to IRA victims' lawyer Jason McCue last October in which Mr Brown wrote that the government did not "consider it appropriate to enter into a bilateral discussion with Libya on this matter". "The Libyans have refused to accept a treaty or normal intergovernmental agreement on this issue.
He added that Libya would be "strongly opposed to reopening the issue." HAVE YOUR SAY American citizens are more equal than British citizens it seems John Ley, High Wycombe class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=6966">Send us your comments
In an earlier letter dating from last September, the prime minister told Mr McCue that Libya was now an "essential partner" in the fight against terrorism and it was in the UK's interests for that co-operation to continue. "As a result, our judgement has been that the course more likely to bring results is to support the families and their lawyers in their legal representations to the Libyan authorities.
Democratic Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who is part of a cross-party group of MPs preparing to travel to Tripoli for talks about compensation, said the PM had done far less for victims than US leaders. "We will appoint dedicated officers in the Foreign Office and our Embassy in Tripoli who will accompany the campaign group to meetings with the Libyan government to negotiate compensation, the first of which will be in the next few weeks."
Out-of-court deals have been agreed by Libya with three American victims of IRA atrocities. Critics say the government has shied away from confronting the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, because of deals struck with Tripoli by British oil companies.
More than 100 UK IRA victims, who had been pursuing similar claims through the American courts, had been excluded from those deals. 'Changed' relationship
Their campaign has been boosted by the Scottish government's decision to free Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. But the prime minister insisted "successive governments" had sought compensation for IRA victims over last two decades.
The victims argue Libya should show similar compassion regarding their demands. He said: "Our priority has been to ensure that Libya supports the fight against terrorism and gives up its nuclear weapons.
'Ever-expanding farce' "As Libya has renounced nuclear weapons and terrorism, our relationship has changed.
"It is these concerns - not oil or commercial interests - that have long been the dominant feature of our relationship."
Mr Parry said the government's main consideration should be the safety of its citizens
Mr McCue said it was "a great day for victims" because Gordon Brown had made a "principled decision" that "listened to ordinary folk rather than bureaucrats".
"I am confident that his moral and logistical backing for the British victims of Libyan Semtex will ensure that they now receive justice and compensation, as did the US victims when they received the support of their president," he said.
Mr McCue added that "with our PM's full support, I cannot see why this matter cannot be concluded swiftly in a matter of weeks and before parliament reconvenes."
Northern Ireland MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who has been working with the victims' families and is due to visit Tripoli on their behalf, said: "We have forced a U-turn, it's not every day you can say that.
"We will work with his government to put the case to the Libyans.
"It is essential now that the government delivers what the Prime Minister has promised."
The government denied claims it refused to press for compensation because of fears of jeopardising oil deals with Libya.
On Sunday Downing Street released a letter written by the prime minister to IRA victims' lawyer Jason McCue last October in which Mr Brown wrote that the government did not "consider it appropriate to enter into a bilateral discussion with Libya on this matter".
Libya are an essential partner in the fight against terrorism and it is in the UK's interests for this co-operation to continue Gordon Brown's letter to victims' lawyer Full text of PM's lettersLibya are an essential partner in the fight against terrorism and it is in the UK's interests for this co-operation to continue Gordon Brown's letter to victims' lawyer Full text of PM's letters
A Downing Street spokesman said the government had raised the issue of compensation with Libya informally but it was felt that formal negotiations stood little chance of success. He added that Libya would be "strongly opposed to reopening the issue".
The Conservatives said the public needed to know "on what basis" the government had reached its decision not to press for compensation. Out-of-court deals have been agreed by Libya with three American victims of IRA atrocities.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague told Sky News: "These latest revelations are part of an ever-expanding farce, with more revelations really every day about how the government have conducted themselves. But more than 100 UK IRA victims, who had been pursuing similar claims through the US courts, had been excluded from those deals.
"These latest revelations greatly strengthen the case we have made for an independent inquiry." Their campaign was boosted by the Scottish government's decision to free Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague said Mr Brown's change of mind was a "stunning admission" that the government had failed to support the families of the victims of IRA terrorism.
He said: "The British government should have provided active support as a matter of course, not as a result of public pressure.
"But Gordon Brown and the government he leads have long lost their moral compass."
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey told the BBC: "We have got a prime minister who no longer appears to be in control. The government looks pretty weak."