Libya talks over IRA compensation

Libya will come under renewed pressure to compensate victims of IRA violence later when Northern Ireland politicians arrive in Tripoli for talks.

Colonel Gaddafi's regime secretly supplied the IRA with weapons and explosives in the 1980s.

Diplomatic relations between the UK and Tripoli have improved and there have recently been signs of a possible change in attitude over payments.

Three MPs and three members of the Lords are to meet officials.

The cross-party delegation is reported to include DUP MPs Jeffrey Donaldson and Nigel Dodds, and Andrew McKinley from Labour.

BBC Ireland Correspondent Mark Simpson said the fact that the Libyan government has agreed to see a British parliamentary delegation is seen as progress.

While the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is not expected to meet them in person, his officials will be told a normalisation in relations can only take place if Libya faces up to the past, our correspondent said.

In 2003, the country took responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which claimed 270 lives, mostly American. It also abandoned efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Five years later, Colonel Gaddafi reached a final compensation agreement with the US over Lockerbie and other bombings.