Boris Johnson plans to hire a special envoy to secure compensation from Libya for IRA victims
BORIS JOHNSON has told MPs he plans to hire a special envoy to secure compensation from Libya for sponsoring IRA terrorism, The Sun can reveal.
Sources claim the Foreign Secretary has already drawn up a shortlist of high profile names do the job.
It comes amid growing fury from MPs that the Government has still not secured an agreement along the lines of deals with the US, France and Germany.
Lawyers and campaigners acting on behalf of IRA victims are demanding compensation on the grounds the Gaddafi regime supplied the IRA with Semtex, used atrocities such as the Canary Wharf bombing.
Details about the new “intent” could come in a matter of weeks.
One insider said: “Boris told us he wants an envoy to lead discussions and get this across the line.”
It follows uproar last week when the UK’s ambassador to Libya played down suggestions that £10 billion-worth of the late Colonel Gaddafi’s assets – frozen in the UK – could be used to compensate families of the killed and injured.
Ambassador Frank Barker was quoted in the Libya Observer as saying only a “few MPs” had been making the demand.
Campaigners claim the Libyan government of the day in 2011 gave a signed commitment to UK authorities to cough up money.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the Labour MP for the Docklands, said: “My message for Boris is simple, we know you want to help, please take this opportunity today in Libya to get a deal moving.
“The victims have waited for too long already. It’s time to just get on with it.
“Do the right thing by the victims, their families and the country.”
Matthew Jury, a lawyer at McCue & Partners – which is representing some of the victims - said: “The Government’s policy of politely asking for just reparations simply hasn’t worked.
"Boris Johnson must use asll the UK’s influence and leverage to demand that Libya do what it promised to do in 2011 and make amends for the terrible violence that was done to the UK.
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“An agreement has already been signed. All the UK has to do now is enforce it.
"The victims have waited long enough.”
The Foreign Office declined to comment.