The battle for compensation for the victims of former Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi continued today with a debate in Westminster Hall secured by the Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, Mr Jim Fitzpatrick.

Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey was in attendance at the debate as were MPs Danny Kinahan and Tom Elliott.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the IRA Docklands bomb at Canary Wharf (9th February 1996) that brought an end to the then IRA ceasefire. In the massive blast in which a half tonne of explosives was used including semtex, 2 people were killed and 39 injured, some of them severely.

Lord Empey said:

“The Exchequer Secretary, Damian Hinds MP, revealed that there was over £9.5billion of frozen assets held in London which had been in the name of Gadaffi, members of his family and other named individuals.  The scale of the amounts being held was a shock to many.

“The Minister explained that the Government was not able, under UN and EU rules, to distribute that money to the many deserving cases it was aware of, although Mr Hinds did say that there were circumstances where the money could be accessed. The Minister listed a number of circumstances, including humanitarian situations.

“Following the short debate, which was attended by myself and a large number of victims and their relatives, there was a clear feeling that some modest progress had been made. Firstly the scale of the resources that were in the public domain and secondly many felt that there were humanitarian circumstances already existing which would warrant a new approach by the government to both the UN and the EU.

“While the debate was centred on a London bombing, the read across to Northern Ireland was mentioned frequently, and the presence at the debate of Laurence Robertson MP, Chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, which is compiling a report on this issue, emphasised the point.

“I have personally been writing to successive governments regarding these crimes since 2002, and for the first time in a long time, I can now see a way forward for the victims. Persistent efforts will continue to be made to seek justice for these victims.”