Police constable Yvonne Fletcher is seen in an undated file photo. British police said they had arrested a Libyan man yesterday for the 1984 murder of Fletcher who was shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in London.  

London Evening Standard
London

Detectives investigating the shooting of Pc Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984 yesterday arrested a man in connection with her murder.
The suspect, a Libyan national in his fifties, was held on suspicion of conspiracy to murder the officer, 25.
A man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of money-laundering by detectives investigating the killing.
All are understood to be Libyans in exile in London and the South-East after fleeing the regime. The arrests were in the capital and the South-East and at least one was made in the street.
Commander Richard Walton, head of the Counter Terrorism Command whose officers made the arrests, said: “We believe these arrests mark a significant turning point in the long-running investigation into the murder.”
He said the arrests followed new lines of inquiry after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
In a series of remarkable developments, he also revealed that two firearms were used in the shooting — a pistol and a machinegun. In addition, detectives announced a £50,000 reward to identify the killers and released details of a massive Facebook campaign to reach witnesses.
Pc Fletcher was on duty at a London demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in May 1984 when a gunman sprayed the crowd with bullets, killing her and wounding 10 Libyans protesting against Gaddafi.
She was hit in the back by two bullets and footage of the shooting, released yesterday, shows her writhing in pain on the ground. The shooting resulted in a siege of the embassy but after 11 days all the Libyan diplomats were escorted to Heathrow and flew home to Tripoli.
No one has ever been charged over the shooting, which led to a breakdown in relations between both countries.
Scotland Yard has continued to investigate the murder and police officers have travelled to Libya to question officials seven times.
Yesterday the Met said officers from the Counter Terrorism Command were questioning the suspects in police custody. Officers were also carrying out searches at a number of addresses across the country.
Commander Walton said: “The day Yvonne was shot remains one of the saddest and darkest days in the history of British policing. We have never lost our resolve to solve this case and to bring to justice those who conspired to commit this act of murder.
“The investigation is now focusing on new lines of inquiry relating to a conspiracy to murder prior to the shooting of Yvonne and we are acting upon fresh new evidence.”   Police released images of rival pro-Gaddafi demonstrators they want to trace and question as witnesses.
Fletcher’s family said yesterday: “Recently we had to come to terms with another loss, the death of Yvonne’s father Tim. His regret was that no one was arrested in connection with the murder of his daughter and never witnessed any justice. Resolving this crime is still important to all the family.”