07/04/2010

Bloody Sunday Report Delayed

The man heading the Bloody Sunday inquiry is to retain the conclusions until after the forthcoming General Election.

A NI Office spokesperson said: "The Secretary of State has asked Lord Saville to continue to keep possession of the report and therefore not to hand it over to the Government until the election has taken place."

The spokesperson added that it would be published to parliament "as soon as is practicable after a new parliament has been convened."

The report is currently being checked by a small team of officials and legal advisers, which includes staff from the Ministry of Defence and MI5.

The decision was confirmed hours after Gordon Brown's formal request to the Queen that Parliament be dissolved.

SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan said it was "regrettable" that the Bloody Sunday families faced a further delay.

The long-running probe is into the death of 13 people killed after paratroopers opened fire during a civil rights march in Londonderry and into one victim who died later, following the January 1972 events.

It was closely followed by a mass 'revenge' bombing in Belfast by the IRA - known as Bloody Friday.

In just 75 minutes of violence, nine people were dead and some 130 more were mutilated, injured and mentally scarred by what they had witnessed.

It was widely recognised as being in direct retaliation for the Bloody Sunday shootings in Londonderry which are now the subject of a long-drawn out, multi-million pound Public Inquiry.

See: Adams On Rack Over IRA

(BMcC/GK)

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