RUC not against public inquiries - Chief Constable

The Royal Ulster Constabulary will not oppose independent probes into controversial killings linked with the security forces, it was confirmed today.

Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said that he would co-operate fully with any public inquiries into the murders of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson and Portadown man Robert Hamill.

His comments came as nationalist politicians were demanding full independent inquiries into the killings in return for their support for the new police service.

There was speculation that the Government was considering the appointment of an international judge to decide whether the cases should be subject to independent inquiry.

Outside police forces are currently investigating the loyalist murders of Mr Finucane in 1989 and Mrs Nelson 1999 amid allegations of security force collusion.

And there are calls for a probe into claims that RUC officers sat in a Land Rover while Mr Hamill was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in 1997.

Sir Ronnie said it was premature to talk about a major independent scrutiny of these cases until all criminal investigations were concluded.

‘‘I would expect those investigations to be brought to a close by the end of this year and if at that time there is a demand for full public inquiries then there would be no resistance whatsoever from me.

‘‘I am not opposed to these inquiries and will co-operate fully with them if the government decides that it is the appropriate way forward,’’ he said.

The RUC Chief, who confirmed his intention to retire within a year, said the force was moving closer to catching the killers of Catholic teenager Ciaran Cummings gunned down in Antrim earlier this month.

‘‘I would hope that in the not too distant future arrests will be made but I do not want to give rise to any false hope in respect to Ciaran’s family,’’ he said.

The murder was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used by loyalist paramilitaries opposed to the Good Friday Agreement.

The RUC Chief Constable acknowledged the growing threat from loyalist dissidents, who have been engaged in an escalating campaign of attacks on Catholic families.

There have been a series of pipe bomb attacks on Catholic homes and last week, gunmen opened fire on two workers at a community centre in north Belfast.

Sir Ronnie said the perpetrators were motivated purely by sectarian hatred.

‘‘These people on the fringes of so-called loyalism have shown that all they require to single out a victim is the thought somebody might be a Catholic.

‘‘That is the mentality of these people. They are utterly reckless and the threat they pose cannot be underestimated,’’ he said.

Despite recent successes in apprehending republicans opposed to the peace process, the RUC chief said that the Real IRA - the group that bombed Omagh, killing 29 people - still remained the biggest threat to stability.

Their threat was illustrated clearly by a gun and bomb attack on an unmanned RUC station in Castlewellan, Co Down, last week.

‘‘If you examine the range of attacks, particularly by the Real IRA and Continuity IRA, they comprise mortar attacks, attempted mortar attacks, attempted bombings, attempted shootings. They continue to pose a very potent threat,’’ he added.