Libya report author offers sympathy to IRA victims

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

The man who looked at compensation for victims of Libyan-sponsored attacks by the IRA has said he understands disappointment at the government ruling out payments.

William Shawcross was appearing on Wednesday before MPs at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

He said he had "huge sympathy" for the victims.

Mr Shawcross said when he took on the job he understood his 90-page report would not be published.

He described it as an internal scoping exercise.

Three recommendations

He said he was "surprised and disappointed" by Tuesday's government statement, which ruled out using £12bn of frozen Libyan assets to compensate IRA victims.

Mr Shawcross said his report made three recommendations, but his contract with the government meant he was limited in what he could tell the committee.

He said he did not identify exactly how many victims may have been murdered or injured using weapons, such as Semtex explosives, provided by the Gaddafi regime.

There has been a long-running campaign for compensation, with victims' hopes raised when Mr Shawcross was appointed by government to examine the issue in 2019.

William Shawcross spoke to MPs at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

"I am aware of the agony of people's expectations in Northern Ireland. It was brought home to me," he said.

"I have huge sympathy for all the victims of Gaddafi-IRA terrorism and all the victims in Northern Ireland and they deserve to be looked after.

"Raised expectations over years and years is a terrible thing amongst the victims."

Questions but very few answers

He is the man the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has been chasing for months, but even before William Shawcross joined the Zoom call MPs had given up hope of getting the answers they wanted.

As expected, Mr Shawcross quickly declared that he could not disclose details of the report he was summoned to talk about because of his contractual obligations to the government.

So we ended up with lots of questions but very few answers.

His appearance before the committee was also spiked by Tuesday's government statement ruling out any move to compensate victims with the £12b of frozen Libyan assets.

Read more here.

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 Remembrance Day bombing in 1987 and the 1996 attack in London's Docklands.

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In a written statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly said the "internal scoping report" was commissioned to provide advice to ministers and draws on "private and confidential conversations".

Libyan Semtex was used in the Remembrance Sunday bombing in Enniskillen

The report set out why the government is legally unable to access £12bn in frozen Libyan assets to compensate the victims.

Mr Cleverly said the "frozen assets may not be seized by the UK government".

He also ruled out using public funds to pay compensation to victims and then recouping the money from the Libyan government.

He said the responsibility for providing compensation lies with the Libyan state and the government had urged the authorities at the "highest level" to engage with UK victims.

But Mr Cleverly added there were "clear practical difficulties" in obtaining compensation from Libya because of the ongoing political and economic instability.

He suggested victims should avail of the current injury compensation schemes in the UK and he also pointed to the Troubles victims pension, which may provide another avenue for compensation.

James Cleverly said the frozen assets could not be seized by the government

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds accused the government of "behaving disgracefully" and letting down victims of IRA terrorism.

"In 2004, Libya agreed to pay $1m compensation to the families of each of the 170 people killed in the bombing of UTA flight 772 in 1989," he said.

"The German government secured $35m for those killed in the 1986 bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin.

"After all these years, our citizens have received little more than warm words and sympathy.

"This should be a point of embarrassment for the government. We will be challenging the government further on this matter in Parliament."

Kenny Donaldson, of Innocent Victims United, said: "For two years the UK government has been responsible for heaping further pain upon those already treated so shamefully.

"The Shawcross Report can't even be described as a 'whitewash' because it continues to be held back from victims, the full contents remain hidden."

Solicitor Barry O'Donnell, who represents some of the victims, added: "It would appear that today's ministerial statement is another piece of political choreography designed to undermine the authority of NI Affairs Committee and to frustrate the hopes and expectations of victims and survivors of Gaddafi-Libyan sponsored IRA terrorism."