to "come clean" and bring the shooter to justice.

Twenty years after her daughter died, along with ten others, in a hail of bullets from a Libyan embassy window, Mrs Fletcher and her family still have no idea whether the culprit is alive or dead.

But in 1999, Libya accepted 'general responsibility' for Yvonne's death and Mrs Fletcher believes that, if anyone knows what really happened, Gaddafi does.

And now, in the light of the recent thaw in relations between Libya and the West, Scotland Yard detectives have agreed to carry Mrs Fletcher's plea to the ears of the dictator.

They are hoping to travel to the country to quiz a chief suspect, to whom they have previously been denied access.

But after decades of agonising uncertainty, Mrs Fletcher is wary about pinning too much hope on the latest developments.

She said: "We were out when the news was on of what had happened.

"When we got home, we had a call from my daughter at nearly midnight saying, 'Put the television on'.

"It was all very sudden and I was a bit sceptical - but it might just do some good.

"I suppose I had half-given up hope of ever finding out the truth. Now, I don't know."

The family faces another anxious wait for news.

They have been given no indication of when, if at all, they can expect an answer from Libya.

Mrs Fletcher said: "It all depends on so many things.

"We have asked the question and now we shall just have to wait and see."