Tremendous step for Canary Wharf victims

By Rob Virtue on September 10, 2009 10:45 AM |

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A victim of the IRA's devastating bomb at Canary Wharf has spoken of the importance of keeping the pressure on Libya to compensate victims.

At the weekend, the campaign took a huge step forward when Prime Minister Gordon Brown caved in to pressure and said he would back attempts to force Colonel Gaddafi to pay for IRA attacks.

The Middle East country supplied the semtex for the Canary Wharf bomb and many other IRA attacks.

Jonathan Ganesh, who was hospitalised and left temporarily deaf from the Marsh Wall blast in February 1996, said he was overjoyed to hear the PM's latest stance.

He said: "I welcome the Prime Minister's comments and I believe this is a tremendous step forward for the victims.

"Although we still have some way to go, this was the right decision especially for the children who were blown to pieces by Libyan-sponsored terrorism. A government should support its people."

The campaign for compensation from Libya was first revealed in The Wharf last October.

Lawyers including Jason McCue, who recently led a successful case against the Omagh bombers, have issued a writ in the US courts asking the country to force Gaddafi to pay up.

Limehouse-resident Jonathan has continually lobbied MPs over the issue.

He is now preparing for a visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli next month, along with group of MPs, where they will be seeking to speak to Colonel Gaddafi about their case.

Jonathan, who lost two friends, newsagents Inan Bashir and John Jeffries, in the Canary Wharf blast in 1996, said all he wants is an apology from the Libyan leader.

He said: "I don't want any money myself. Many of the victims need money but not me personally.

"However, we owe it to JJ and Inan who died an unbelievably terrible death, to pursue this campaign for them and for all the victims at Canary Wharf."

At the weekend, the Prime Minister came under criticism over allegations he vetoed an attempt to force Gaddafi to pay the compensation as it may have interfered with oil deals.

Following the claims Mr Brown set up a dedicated team of civil servants to deal with issue.

On Tuesday morning, Lawyers and MPs for the victims met with Foreign Office officials at 10 Downing Street to discuss a strategy for the compensation claim.

The Middle East country had previously paid compensation for United States victims of Libyan-backed terrorism.