Willie Hay calls for pay outs to Libyan Semtex victims

The former Mayor of Derry raised the matter in the British House of Lords.

He called for a report by William Shawcross, the UK’s Special Representative on victims of violence supported by the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to be published immediately.

The DUP veteran who takes the title Lord Hay of Ballyore at Westminster said: “The finding of the Shawcross report was submitted to the Government last May, and I have to say that it is deeply regrettable that the report has not been released.

“Sadly, as in so many other cases, many victims of republican terrorism continue to feel abandoned by the process, and some rightly ask why they must continue to wait for justice.

“The Minister will be aware that there has been a long campaign for the frozen assets of Colonel Gaddafi to be used to compensate the victims of Colonel-Gaddafi-sponsored IRA terrorism, in line with that previously paid out to French, German and American victims of Colonel-Gaddafi-sponsored terrorist attacks.”

Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who is known as Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, replied: “On the delay, the challenges of the pandemic have meant that we wanted to give the report appropriate discussion across Westminster. I assure the noble Lord that we put victims at the heart of our approach.”