TRIPOLI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations-backed Libyan government on Monday rejected Britain's intention to use the frozen Libyan funds in London to compensate victims of attacks by the Irish army.
"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord refuses the intention of the British House of Commons to vote on a decision taking advantages of Libya's frozen funds in London to compensate the victims of the Irish army's attacks, of which Gaddafi's former regime was accused of supporting," Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj's information office said in a statement later on Monday.
Members of the British House of Commons recently submitted a formal request to discuss a bill obliging Libya to pay financial compensation to victims of attacks by the Irish army.
"We consider this as a serious step. Making such a decision is violation of the international law and of Libyan sovereignty. It is also a precedent on which others might rely to put their hands on other countries' funds in the future," the statement said.
The Libyan government warned that "such a step would not serve the Libyan-British relations that we seek to develop and improve," adding that it would seek all legal and diplomatic means to "confront it."
The UN Security Council passed resolution No. 1973 in 2011, which imposed sanctions on the former government led by Muammar Gaddafi and froze all Libyan assets and funds abroad.
Britain accused Gaddafi's government of supplying the Irish Republican Army with weapons, in an effort to end British rule in Northern Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s.
