Hain to be quizzed about OTR move at British-Irish talks

Northern Secretary Peter Hain is facing tough questions today about the British government's plan to allow paramilitary fugitives to return to the North without fear of imprisonment.

Opposition politicians from both sides of the Irish Sea are planning to quiz Mr Hain about the so-called "on-the-runs" legislation at a meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in Edinburgh today.

The legislation had been demanded by Sinn Féin as a means of allowing IRA fugitives to return to the North if their offences were committed before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Most other parties oppose the measures.