Senior diplomat faces Finucane murder charge
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Your support makes all the difference.A senior British diplomat and up to 20 intelligence personnel could face criminal charges following a large-scale investigation into collusion between security officers and loyalist assassins.
Reports on the individuals, who include Brigadier Gordon Kerr, Britain's military attache in Beijing, are to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, said yesterday. A team supervised by Sir John has for years been investigating allegations of collusion by intelligence personnel in loyalist killings in Belfast.
In the late 1980s Brigadier Kerr was in charge of the Force Research Unit, which controlled agents within groups such as the Ulster Defence Association. Some weeks ago he was questioned by detectives during a visit to London.
Sir John, speaking 14 years after the murder of Pat Finucane by the Ulster Defence Association, said: "Papers are being prepared in relation to Gordon Kerr. This is the most extensive inquiry of its nature ever undertaken in the world.
"This approach has continued to identify fresh leads and uncovered information never previously disclosed." An interim report will be delivered in April.
A Canadian judge asked by the Government to review the case papers concerning the murder in 1989 of Finucane, a Belfast solicitor, has completed his work but is not expected to say before October whether he will recommend a public inquiry. The judge, Peter Cory, has yet to examine a series of other controversial killings. He is thought likely to recommend an inquiry.
The Finucane family is pressing for a public inquiry, saying police investigations were inadequate. Finucane's widow, Geraldine, said: "Stevens is a delaying tactic, one of the many that is being used by the British Government and really I think this latest information is another headline that will detract from the truth."
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