IRA victims to sue Gadaffi

VICTIMS of IRA atrocities are to sue the Libyan leader, Colonel Gadaffi, and his government for supplying republicans with weapons during the Troubles.

The case is being seen as the biggest ever civil action over terrorism in Britain. Survivors of terrorism and relatives of victims are seeking millions of pounds in compensation and an apology from Libya for supplying war materials to the IRA.

Michelle Williamson, 40, whose parents were killed by a bomb at a fish shop in Belfast's Shankill Road, told a newspaper: "Libya can't wash its hands of responsibility. It's like the pub owner who knowingly supplies drink to a customer knowing he or she is going to drive home drunk. If that driver kills someone, the person who plied him or her with drink bears some responsibility."

For 55-year-old oceanographer Mark McDonald, from Colorado, it's about making the world safer. Shrapnel perforated his body in a bomb outside Harrods in 1983.

"I see this action as part of making the world safer because it might make other states thinking of sponsoring terrorism think again," he told The Observer.

Lawyers for the IRA victims say papers will be filed in New York or Washington DC on behalf of around 20 plaintiffs next month.

Victims' groups hope hundreds more people from the North, Britain, the US and beyond will join the class action. Lawyers say up to 6,000 people were killed or injured with Libyan supplied guns and explosives.

Among the individuals accused are Gadaffi and intelligence officer Nasser Ali Ashour, who allegedly dealt with republican leaders including alleged former IRA chief of staff Thomas 'Slab' Murphy.

London-based lawyer Jason McCue said: "Libya sponsored the IRA. The IRA utilised their help to foster their campaign. Innocent people who got caught up in that campaign suffered dreadful losses. Libya wants in from the cold. They want to normalise into international commerce and society. They have to put their terrorist past behind them. But like anyone else they are accountable for their past actions. They need to settle their dues."

Only US citizens can file claims against other nations so Americans caught up in IRA attacks will sue under the 1996 Foreign Sovereignty Immunity Act. British citizens will sue individuals through the Torture Victims Protection Act 1991.

A spokesman for the Libyan embassy in London yesterday said the consul was unavailable for comment.