Victims of IRA atrocities say they have been "stabbed in the back" by the Government after being told they would get no help in their legal battle for compensation from Libya.
The dictator's Semtex was used in dozens of IRA attacks across the UK, including Enniskillen and Ballygawley in Northern Ireland and Harrods and Warrington in England.
However, as victims slammed the Government snub last night, fresh hope emerged when Labour leader Ed Miliband said if he became Prime Minister he would pressurise the Libyans.
A damages case was brought in the US courts but collapsed seven years ago. An email obtained by a UK newspaper showed how Tony Blair, with the knowledge of the Foreign Office, intervened on behalf of Gaddafi over the compensation claims.
It led to a deal between Libya and the US in which American victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism received multi-million-pound payments but UK victims received nothing.
The UK victims have continued their campaign and David Cameron had promised to help. Last year, Mr Cameron appointed Sir Kim Darroch, his national security adviser, to assist in what families hoped would be a concerted effort to secure compensation.
But now Sir Kim has written to victims' relations and lawyers telling them the Government cannot intervene on their behalf.
Sir Kim wrote: "Individual compensation claims are best pursued through private campaigns. So the Government will not directly lobby for payment of specific claims."
Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb survivor Stephen Gault said: "It doesn't surprise me that the British Government has done this. Tony Blair has stabbed the back of the innocent victims yet again.
"He was part of the negotiating team when the Americans secured compensation but he did nothing. He is afraid to go against Sinn Fein and the IRA.
"The whole thing is rotten. The British Government is rotten and we have just been stabbed in the back yet again. We thought we would have an ally in the Conservatives but that is not the case as they have let us down again.
"I would feel betrayed by the British Government. It always seems they are appeasing the terrorist. This is just another nail in the coffin for victims."
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said yesterday: "I met recently with Sir Kim and I impressed upon him the importance of the Government continuing to support the victims in their quest for recognition and indeed for compensation, it is therefore disappointing to read the contents of the letter which has been issued to the victims.
"It is something we will be raising with whoever forms the next government because we have had a Labour government and a Conservative government, neither of whom have been able to help victims from across the UK who are seeking compensation from Libya."
Jonathan Ganesh, who survived the Canary Wharf bombing in London, said: "It is very disappointing. These people desperately need help. I have met many of these people. I have been to Northern Ireland several times, all different people of different religions have been affected.
"And we must remember the Americans were compensated." - Belfast Telegraph
At the end of 1985 Frank Hegarty from Derry worked with the Quarter Master General’s department in the IRA, helping shift weapons which were starting to arrive, which included plastic explosives from Libya. After the Hunger Stirke, Libyan Intelligence and the IRA made a deal. The Libyans would supply hundreds of tons of weaponry and millions of pounds to the IRA, provided they made life hell for Mrs Thatcher’s government, something the IRA rank and file were enthusiastic about. Libya wanted revenge for the expulsion of their Diplomats from London, after policewoman Yvonne Fletcher was shot.
Martin McGuinness a former Chief of Staff of the IRA, had fellow Derryman, Hegarty cleared to be part of the unit, that moved 80 AK-47’s, smuggled from Libya in August 1985, to two temporary dumps in Roscommon and Sligo, where they were discovered by the Garda Special Branch, who were responsible for everything that happened in that area, and raided the dumps. The British & Irish intelligence, came very close to discovering, the Libyan arms smuggling at a very early stage. Hegarty realized that his previous expulsion from the IRA would become known, when the IRA investigated the arms seizure and that he would be the prime suspect, for betraying the weapons, so he fled to England where MI5 kept him in a safe house. The IRA learned, that Martin McGuinness had cleared Hegarty for the operation and was aware of Hegarty's previous expulsion. McGuinness wnated to be Chief of Staff again but the whole episode sullied his reputation. He enticed Hegarty back home, with assurances to both Hegarty and his mother but after Hegarty was interrogated by an IRA Internal Security Unit, he was executed, saving McGuinness from the ame fate in the process.
McGuinness is a very wealthy man today, as a result of all the money the British and Gadaffi gave him, so it seems rather odd that the victims do not pursue him, as he is the only wealthy individual around, who was involved with the plastic explosives, that killed all of the victims. The victims would need to do so promptly, before the same fate happen's to McGuinness, as happened to Gadaffi. McGuinness is now an old man and will soon be going where he belongs from now on, into the dustbin of history. Apparently, there are many around, who would like to speed that process up, so the victims would need to act quickly, to recover his vast wealth offshore, otherwise they will miss out once again, as they have no chance of ever recovering monies from Libya, which is in total disarray, after Gadaffi met such a cruel death. It would indeed be a sad day for the victims, if McGuinness was buggered and tortured like Gadaffi, before they received their money, but for others, there would be celebrations all over Ireland, as when his good friend Thatcher, finally kicked the bucket. There were many young boys, buggered in Ireland like Gadaffi, during McGuinness's watch. Personally I have forgiven him not because I wanted too but because it sets my own Spirit Free and besides I believe everyone is entitled to jury of 12 jurors , so it's not for me to judge.However there is little doubt that he has betrayed the Irish people of no property, who gave him mandate to lead, instead of being a twisted servant of Her Majesty, the Queen of England.
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