Richard Norton-Taylor: Britain's past relations with Libya ... Yvonne Fletcher and plot to kill Gaddafi
[Richard Norton-Taylor is the security editor for the Guardian.]
The uproar provoked by the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the former intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, today forced into the open largely forgotten issues that have bedevilled Britain's relations with Libya in the past.
Some, such as the help Muammar Gaddafi gave to the IRA, were considered officially closed. Some, such as MI6's alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Gaddafi, were not taken seriously. Others, notably the search for the killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher, were submerged by the drive for warmer relations with Libya and the prospect of lucrative business deals.
"Given the sensitivity over Megrahi everything is now coming under the magnifying glass," a British official said today, adding that none of the issues was new, and, as far as London was concerned, none was linked.
Libya is clearly delighted with Megrahi's release but was now responding in what a British source called its "well-established defensive position". Libya was responding to demands from Britain for action by raising demands of its own, he said.
Mohammed Siala, Libya's secretary for international co-operation and a senior figure in the government, suggested today that Libya was talking to the British government about compensation for the victims of people killed by the IRA when it was being supplied with weapons from Libya in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hundreds of relatives are claiming a multimillion damages claim against Gaddafi. Colin Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim was killed in the IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993, said last week: "I think it's now time for Libya to acknowledge the pain and suffering they inflicted by supporting the IRA and show the same compassion to its victims." However, the issue of compensation was not raised when Gaddafi gave British intelligence valuable information about weapons he supplied to the IRA, according to official sources. Today they described the Libyan IRA file as closed.
Siala suggested there could be movement on the Fletcher case so long as Britain provided more information about a plot to kill Gaddafi...
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
The uproar provoked by the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the former intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, today forced into the open largely forgotten issues that have bedevilled Britain's relations with Libya in the past.
Some, such as the help Muammar Gaddafi gave to the IRA, were considered officially closed. Some, such as MI6's alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Gaddafi, were not taken seriously. Others, notably the search for the killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher, were submerged by the drive for warmer relations with Libya and the prospect of lucrative business deals.
"Given the sensitivity over Megrahi everything is now coming under the magnifying glass," a British official said today, adding that none of the issues was new, and, as far as London was concerned, none was linked.
Libya is clearly delighted with Megrahi's release but was now responding in what a British source called its "well-established defensive position". Libya was responding to demands from Britain for action by raising demands of its own, he said.
Mohammed Siala, Libya's secretary for international co-operation and a senior figure in the government, suggested today that Libya was talking to the British government about compensation for the victims of people killed by the IRA when it was being supplied with weapons from Libya in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hundreds of relatives are claiming a multimillion damages claim against Gaddafi. Colin Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim was killed in the IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993, said last week: "I think it's now time for Libya to acknowledge the pain and suffering they inflicted by supporting the IRA and show the same compassion to its victims." However, the issue of compensation was not raised when Gaddafi gave British intelligence valuable information about weapons he supplied to the IRA, according to official sources. Today they described the Libyan IRA file as closed.
Siala suggested there could be movement on the Fletcher case so long as Britain provided more information about a plot to kill Gaddafi...