Arrest Threat For 'On The Runs'

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has warned that secret letters sent to "on the run" republican paramilitary suspects are not "immunities".

Speaking to the media, Mr Hain added that of the 187 suspects who received letters, said they could still be arrested if new evidence was to emerge.

On Friday, it was also confirmed by Justice Minister David Ford that five cases were currently being considered by government officials, and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) had accepted responsibility.

The revelations come as the Northern Ireland Assembly meets to discuss the "on the run" issue at the urgent request of First Minister Peter Robinson.

The DUP leader ordered the session after threatening to resign from his post after he was "kept in the dark" that 187 fugitive IRA suspects had been sent letters from the UK Government saying they were no longer wanted by the police.

This information was made public following the collapse of a case against John Downey.

Last Friday, the 62-year-old walked free from the Old Bailey after a judge ruled that the case could not go ahead. Mr Downey, from Co Donegal, had been accused of carrying out the 1982 Hyde Park bombing which killed four soldiers. He was arrested at Gatwick Airport last year but denied the charges against him.

The case collapsed because he had wrongly been told in a letter in 2007 that he was no longer a wanted man, despite the fact that police in Northern Ireland knew he was still being sought by Scotland Yard.

(JP)