Colonel Gaddafi is to pay $3.5 billion to victims of IRA atrocities it has been revealed.
It follows nine months of talks between British family representatives and Gaddafi officials in Tripoli.
Gaddafi allowed the importation from Libya in the 1980s of tons of semtex plastic explosives to be used in IRA attacks.
Among the attacks carried out with Libyan semtex were the Harrods Christmas bombing of 1983, which killed six and the Enniskillen atrocity of 1987 that left 11 dead during a Remembrance Day service.
It was also used by the Real IRA splinter group in the Omagh bombing in August 1998, which killed 29 and injured 220 in the worst killings of the Troubles.
And Libyan semtex was also used in the 1989 Lockerbie Pan Am 103 airline bombing that left 270 dead.
Libya has already paid £8 million to each of the families of victims aboard Pan Am Flight 103.
Around £1.2 billion of the compensation is likely to go to 147 families who have been pressing Libya to acknowledge its role in IRA arocites.
The British Foreign Office stated : 'The Government is sympathetic to the suffering of the victims and their legitimate attempts to seek redress.
'We believe success is best achieved by direct contacts, which we have helped establish, between the campaign and the Libyan authorities.'
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.YoungPike | Jun 19, 2010, 11:22 AM EDT
You can criticise the British Army with impunity because Britain is a liberal democracy bound by laws etc. Try criticising the IRA and see what happens to you! Dig a little deeper and you'll find links to militant Islam. The IRA would co-operate with the Taliban and al Qaeda as surely as it tried to form an alliance with Nazi Germany. Don't be fooled by this "freedom fighter" nonsense!
Downunderyan | Jun 16, 2010, 08:15 AM EDT
Dear, dear Realist "800 years after the first incusion by the English into Ireland.....English soldiers etc. landed at the invitation of an Irishman....lol." Dermot McMurrough to his eternal shame was the guilty king who invited the Normans to Ireland to help him with a matrimonial dispute with a rival. Don't forget that 600 years earlier, King Vortigern of England invited Hengist and Horsa, Germanic tribes, to England to help him in his disputes with neighbouring kings. LOL. The Norman invasion of Ireland was sanctioned by the one and only English Pope Hadrian 4th (aka Nicholas Breakespeare) throught he Bull 'Laudabiliter' issued to Henry 2nd. LOL again
hancock | Jun 15, 2010, 10:29 PM EDT
Now the English govt can be sued for supplying arms to Irish unionist terrorists who committed atrocities.
shuvonn | Jun 15, 2010, 08:02 PM EDT
It was a rhetorical question, I didn't expect an answer :-) No biting here :-) I NEVER enter into a pantomime argument, some people lack the ability to see any point of view except their own...
CanadianPat | Jun 15, 2010, 05:38 PM EDT
Shvuonn ,Dermot MacMurrough the deposed King of Leinster invited some Norman Knights ,most noted being Richard De Clare (Strongbow) ,with promises of land grants if they would help him get his kingdom back.Basic Irish history!It is pushing the truth to suggest he invited an English invasion and conquest!It was a long time ago and has nothing to do with Daffy Gaddafi. Shuvonn ,you were doing so well till you bit at Realist's diversion. I have learned through his postings that half truths is his prefered choise in weapons; the poor chap is still fighting the battle of the Boyne.
shuvonn | Jun 15, 2010, 12:13 PM EDT
WHO was this mysterious IRISHMAN you speak of realist?
citizen69 | Jun 15, 2010, 11:46 AM EDT
Let's remember that this Gaddafi is the same guy that carried out the Lockerbie terrorist bombing that killed 270 people (190 of them American citizens). He sent multiple ship loads of terrorist weapons & explosives to the IRA. The IRA had close links to Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East and close links to fellow left-wing Marxist terror groups around the world.
Realist | Jun 15, 2010, 11:26 AM EDT
800 years after the first incusion by the English into Ireland - and some of them are still banging on about it. However, what they always forget to mention is that that very same group of English soldiers etc. landed at the invitation of an Irishman....lol.
shuvonn | Jun 15, 2010, 11:13 AM EDT
SO you do not want to talk about the U.V.F., U.F.F., Red Hand Commandos? Collusion between the RUC and the loyalist terrorist groups? The destruction by the MoD of rifles used in Bloody Sunday due to what they called *CLERICAL ERRORS*??? Do the Protestant victims not count? ONLY the R.C.'S? Why did the people sent in to N.I. to protect the citizens end up killing them? Many questions will never be answered, but ONLY looking at ONE side will NEVER get YOU to the TRUTH. And you just don't get it...and most likely NEVER will...
Southernpride | Jun 15, 2010, 10:56 AM EDT
Innocent Catholics who were murdered by IRA terrorists funded by Irish-Americans. Why did the IRA kill their own people? WHY!!
shuvonn | Jun 15, 2010, 10:41 AM EDT
What no kudos for or even mention of the loyalist terrorists? No mention of the collusion between the RUC and the loyalist terrorist groups? No mention of the innocent women, children and men who were murdered by the British Army, the SAS, the RUC, the loyalist terrorist groups? Do THEY not count to you? Does ONLY one side of the story matter to YOU?
Southernpride | Jun 15, 2010, 10:29 AM EDT
Gaddafi and Irish-Americans were the biggest financial contributors to the IRA terrorists who blew up inncoent men, women and chidern for over 30 odd years
brennanirish | Jun 15, 2010, 08:29 AM EDT
shuvonn...irish america needs more people like you to stand up for it!
Downunderyan | Jun 15, 2010, 05:43 AM EDT
Pro-British and Pro-Israeli apologists (such as Watereskhill and Southernpride) have invaded these Irish Central discussion groups. Britain and Israel are amongst the biggest arms dealers providing arms, materiel, technology and intelligence to terrorist groups de-stabilising governments and economies around the world. In over 800 years of invasion, occupation, destruction, de-population and exploitation, Britain has been responsible for countless deaths of 'innocent Irish Catholics'.
Watereskhill | Jun 14, 2010, 11:00 PM EDT
The twisted and insane turf of Gaddafi seduced terrorists from whatever quarter. A boot-camp. Each with their own agenda. He has much to answer for from Ulster to Pakistan and beyond.
shuvonn | Jun 14, 2010, 09:32 PM EDT
Justice for the dead of bloody Sunday was removed by Widgery when he blackened their names... And I QUOTE *in some respects what actually happened after Bloody Sunday was a more embittering experience than the actual killings. There we were, under the full glare of the world's media; people saw what happened, and attested before courts and tribunals as to what happened. But the final word was that everybody had got it wrong, the media had got it wrong, the people in the street had got it wrong, the relatives had got it wrong, and the only people who had got it right were the Brits. The most galling aspect of Bloody Sunday for me is the denial of truth." Tony Doherty, who was 9 at the time when his father was shot dead. As for the reuniting of Ireland, tell that to the ones who celebrate on july 12th and paint their footpaths red white and blue, they want no part of the ROI and never have...
SyndiHolmes | Jun 14, 2010, 09:21 PM EDT
Dear Sparklet: The past is never past when it is your own dead. The passing of years does not negate the sufferings that were inflicted , the passing of the years does not negate justice for the dead. The only reparation for over 700 years of oppression is to reunite Ireland-then we can all move on.
Sparklet | Jun 14, 2010, 05:43 PM EDT
UrsulaCS, most of the people you talk about are dead and have been for centuries. We can't hold a nation responsible for things that happened hundreds of years ago. Having said that, the UK Government and Stormont could have stopped the troubles by stopping the persecution and discrimination of Catholics - they do deserve our anger, but it's past now. Many of my friends in England have learned the cause of the troubles and were shocked by it, and they love Ireland and feel a sadness - and a shame - for the actions of their Governments through the years. It's time to move on.
shuvonn | Jun 14, 2010, 03:54 PM EDT
Anyone from the US has no knowledge of Loyalist terrorist groups, Red Hand Commandos, U.V.F, U.F.F. the list goes one but with British control of the Media, most people heard of the IRA and their atrocities. Do the Trick or Treat murders mean ANYTHING to YOU SouthernPride? How about Dublin and Monaghan Bombs? THEY ring a bell? I am NO fan of the IRA, never was never will be, Omagh was heartbreaking but I will NOT stand back and not comment when you want to measure the death toll and NOT count the LOYALIST TERRORISTS who worked in Collusion with the RUC...
Southernpride | Jun 14, 2010, 02:52 PM EDT
The IRA terrorists have killed more innocent Irish Catholics than the Brits ever did
slainte9 | Jun 14, 2010, 01:33 PM EDT
After generations of British atrocities in Ireland, including a "famine" that killed and displaced millions, British are the ones that get reparations?
citizen69 | Jun 14, 2010, 12:35 PM EDT
If this is true (and i'm not convinced that it is) I hope the money is spent on projects in both communities as the group representing victims of the IRA have said they wanted. Let's remember nearly 400 Irish Catholics were murdered by the IRA also. Money doesn't make up for justice but it could certainly help communities if spent in the right way.
UrsulaCS | Jun 14, 2010, 12:15 PM EDT
So the British Reps are looking for compensation for the atrocities inflicted on them. When are the Brits going to pay for the atrocities inflicted by them on the Irish People for centuries. They stole our land, burned our churches, destroyed our schools, starved our people, etc. When are they going to be held accountable for all this and pay for their crimes.
Sparklet | Jun 14, 2010, 11:12 AM EDT
Bombing innocent people is never, ever justifiable. Whilst fully supporting the aims, I can never agree with the means. It just spreads more hatred and more violence. Anger should always be directed at those directly responsible.
CanadianPat | Jun 14, 2010, 10:50 AM EDT
Daffy Gaddafi is Mad and always has been !
FastEddy | Jun 14, 2010, 09:31 AM EDT
Gaddafi officials in Tripoli have had Gaddafi on drugs ever since Reagan bombed the crapola out of his town several decades ago. Now a pathetic shell of a propped up cardboard cutout of a world leader, he hasn't said a sane word in public since ... Easy pick'ens for any Irish lawyer word mixer ... Go for the gold.
HawaiiRN | Jun 14, 2010, 08:51 AM EDT
I dont endorse the violence but if you remember over 800 years of oppression put upon the Irish people I can understand what would drive them to do thse things, part of my family was put int servitude which is a nice way of calling them slaves, so it is understandable but not condoned
shuvonn | Jun 14, 2010, 08:34 AM EDT
I am not sure this will bring closure to the families, but Enniskillen and Harrods were horrible atrocities, same as the Omagh bombing which seemed even more horrific, and it makes me wonder how or why people could be driven to act in such a manner towards others... I even remember where I was when I heard about the bombs in Dublin and Monaghan and my father worried about where all the members of the family where.