A CAMPAIGN to secure compensation for IRA victims killed with Semtex supplied by former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has moved a step closer.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed to appoint an independent assessor to look at the issue, unionists who met him on Monday night have said.
Assets held by Libya have been frozen by the United Nations Security Council. It is understood the assessor will look at the legal position between the UK, Libya and the UN, how much compensation is needed and how many people may receive it.
Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey welcomed the move.
"While no firm undertakings were given by the foreign secretary, the fact is that this is the first time that the government has done anything other than bat the problem away, which is what has been happening from the time when Tony Blair was prime minister," he said.
DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly said the planned appointment was positive news.
"Whilst this is a small step along the road it is still significant," she said.
In October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion into a fund to compensate relatives of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing victims; American victims of the 1986 Berlin disco bombing; American victims of the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing and Libyan victims of the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi.
