Saville: 'British Govt would have known of arrest plans'

A former British army press officer has told the Saville Inquiry that he believes the British Government would have been informed of military plans to make mass arrests on the day that eventually became known as Bloody Sunday.

Colin Wallace said the British Prime Minister would almost certainly have been informed of the arrest plans due to the politically sensitive nature of the operation.

In a recent interview, Mr Wallace was quoted as saying that the army plans would have needed political clearance, but questioned about these comments today, he said the word "clearance" might have been too strong.

However, he added that he could not see a situation where army officers would have implemented the operation without making Downing Street at least aware of the plans.