Robinson rules out sending police officers to Libya

The North’s First Minister Peter Robinson warned today he would not tolerate PSNI officers being sent to Libya on future assignments.

He stopped short of rebuking Ian Paisley Jnr, who earlier defended his decision to approve the police training saying it was useful to bring back information.

DUP leader Mr Robinson said the north African state still had a long way to go after it helped finance the IRA during the Troubles.

“The DUP will continue the campaign for compensation for the innocent victims of Provisional IRA terrorism, which was sponsored by Libya,” he said.

“Libya not only supplied arms but also helped finance the PIRA therefore it is imperative that it makes recompense for that role. It is clear from the reception for the Lockerbie bomber (Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi) that Libya still has a long way to go.”

“Consequently, none of our elected representatives will be supporting any future deployments of police personnel to Libya until they have reached a settlement on the payment of compensation to PIRA victims and relations have been normalised.”

DUP MPs Nigel Dodds and Jeffrey Donaldson meet senior diplomats at the Libyan embassy tomorrow to discuss the demand for compensation.