By Lewis Bazley.

The prime minister opted not to press Libya for compensation for victims of IRA bombings, Downing St has confirmed.

The revelation comes after claims the Libyan government unduly influenced the doctors who ruled Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi had only three months left to live.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, one of the doctors involved in the case, a Briton, was told by Libyan officials that a three-month figure would be "helpful" in securing al Megrahi’s release on compassionate grounds.

The Sunday Times, meanwhile, reports Gordon Brown did not consider it "appropriate" to enter talks with Libya over compensation for the victims of IRA bombs.

Campaigners have sought a payout from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime as it supplied the IRA with the Semtex explosives used for the attacks.

But in a letter to the victims’ lawyer Jason McCue last October, Mr Brown said the government did not "consider it appropriate to enter into a bilateral discussion with Libya on this matter", and cited the need for continued relations with Libya on matters such as terrorism.

Democratic Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson said the prime minister had not shown the same determination to secure compensation for victims of terrorism as US leaders had.

"I want to know – and the victims are entitled to know – why Gordon Brown does not have the same desire to stand up for the victims of IRA terrorism as George Bush showed standing up for American victims," he told the BBC.

"He got a multi-million dollar deal in terms of compensation from the Libyans."

Northern Ireland finance minister Nigel Dodds, who is also expected to attend cross-party talks in Tripoli alongside Mr Donaldson, added: "We believe it is important that the Libyan government hears first-hand why they have a moral obligation to the victims of the IRA.

"Many towns and cities across the UK were badly damaged by the Semtex they supplied and hundreds of lives lost."

In Mr Brown’s letter to Mr McCue, dated October 7th 2008, he wrote : "The UK government does not consider it appropriate to enter into a bilateral discussion with Libya on this matter.

"While the UK-Libya relationship does indeed include trade, bilateral co-operation is now wide-ranging on many levels, particularly in the fight against terrorism.

"I believe it is in all our interests for this co-operation to continue."

A Downing St spokesman rejected claims the prime minister’s decision had been influenced by a desire to protect lucrative oil contracts involving British firms.

"As the prime minister makes absolutely clear in his letter to Mr McCue, trade considerations were not a factor in the government’s decision that it would not be appropriate to enter into direct negotiations with Libya on this issue," the spokesman explained.

"The prime minister is sympathetic to the case put forward by the families of victims of IRA atrocities and met with a group representing them in December to listen to their concerns."

Popularity: 1% [?]