A DELEGATION of MPs flies out to meet Colonel Qadhafi on Saturday to seek an apology and compensation for IRA bombings with Semtex supplied by the Libyans in the 1980s and 90s. One IRA atrocity devastated Canary Wharf 13 years ago, killing two men and injuring 39 other vicitms

By Mike Brooke

A DELEGATION of MPs flies out to meet Colonel Gaddafi on Saturday to seek an apology and compensation for IRA bombings with Semtex supplied by the Libyans in the 1980s and 90s.

One IRA atrocity was the lorry bomb that devastated Canary Wharf 13 years ago, killing two men and injuring 39 other victims including families on Millwall’s Barkantine housing estate nearby.

One of the injured was security guard Jonathan Ganesh who was pulled from the rubble in the bank where he worked after the massive explosion on February 9, 1996.

He survived, only to learn that his two pals who ran a newsagent’s nearby were dead.

“My friends John Jefferies and Inan Bashir were killed by Libyan Semtex given to the IRA,” he said.

“That blast bought devastation and murder to East London. Some of the families in the heart of Docklands are still suffering 13 years on.”

Two cleaners at the bank who live on the Barkantine Estate were among the injured. Zaoui Berezag was left with brain damage, while Joyce Brown was traumatized and still suffers recurring nightmares.

The delegation of MPs and peers and peers flying to Libya on Saturday is seeking an apology and compensation for IRA victims and their families.

“This is a tremendous step forward, finally having our pain and suffering acknowledged,” Jonathan told the East London Advertiser. “We in the East End are behind it and welcome Gaddafi’s invitation.”

The delegation has broad political consensus on the thorny issues of apology and compensation, after consultations with Downing Street, the Foreign Office and Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague.