Retired police officers from Northern Ireland and London will travel to Libya next month to provide more training at public expense, it was revealed today.
Five officers will give a 12-day training programme to 20 Libyan drug law enforcement officers with money from the UN.
Tonight Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson warned that his party would not tolerate any more officers from Northern Ireland travelling to the north African state.
The DUP is spearheading efforts to gain compensation for IRA victims in Libya, which helped finance the armed group during the Northern Ireland conflict.
NI-CO, the independent body administering the programme, is self-financing but with links to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, which is in DUP hands. It is a private company with an independent board of directors appointed by government body Invest NI.
A spokesman for Invest NI (the Government funding body responsible) told the BBC’s Nolan Show: “Under UN supervision, NI-CO experts will provide a 12-day training programme to 20 Libyan drug law enforcement officers during October 2009.
“The course will be delivered by five retired police officers from both the London Metropolitan Police and the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland).”
PA