Returning exiles 'must face trial'

Any scheme allowing on-the-run paramilitaries to return from exile to Northern Ireland must feature a trial at which they can plead their guilt or innocence to past crimes, the British government was told today.

As Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain prepared to release legislation this month facilitating the return of on-the-run IRA members and loyalists who fled the North during the Troubles to avoid arrest, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan set out six principles which should guide the British government’s legislation.