Libyan weapons: IRA victims 'abandoned' over compensation report delay

Muammar Gaddafi supplied weapons, including Semtex explosives, to the IRA during the Troubles

The government is facing a new call to release a report on compensation for victims of IRA attacks in which weapons supplied by Libya were used.

It has, so far, not published the report it received in May 2020.

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh has said an "intolerable delay" has left victims "feeling abandoned".

The Labour MP said the report, authored by government-appointee William Shawcross, should be released urgently.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has previously warned it could use powers to compel the government to make it public.

The report is seen as being an important step in a long-running campaign by victims seeking compensation from Libya.

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Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime supplied large amounts of weapons to the IRA during the Troubles.

Its Semtex explosives were used in numerous murders, such as the Enniskillen Poppy Day bombing in 1987 and the 1996 attack in London's Docklands.

Libyan Semtex was used in the Remembrance Sunday bombing in Enniskillen

In March 2019, the government appointed Mr Shawcross to help inform its approach to the issue.

He was to evaluate who might qualify and what should be paid.

But the government subsequently cast doubt on when - and if - his report would be made public, stating it would consider the issue once "the need to focus on the Covid-19 crisis has abated".

Following a meeting with the Docklands Victims' Association, Ms Haigh has written to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab calling for the report's release.

"The physical and emotional toll these devastating acts of terror have left on victims have had consequences that last for generations," she said.

"They must not be left in the dark.

"It is time the report was urgently released and victims were given answers and the redress they have fought so long for."

About £12bn of Libyan assets are frozen in the UK and its government has previously paid compensation to US victims of Gaddafi-backed terrorism.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said ministers are "carefully considering the complex issues" raised in the report.