Church backs Army killings probe

The Catholic Church has backed calls for an independent inquiry into the British Army killings of 11 people in west Belfast almost 40 years ago.

The Bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Treanor, will urge the British Government to apologise and declare innocent those shot dead in the so-called Ballymurphy Massacre when he meets bereaved families on Friday.

He will also hand the relatives previously undisclosed church archive documents relating to the deaths in August 1971.

Catholic priest Hugh Mullan was among the 11 civilians shot dead by British soldiers over a three-day period in the republican neighbourhood.

The military entered the area to round up suspected paramilitaries after the Northern Ireland government introduced the controversial policy of internment without trial.

The relatives' calls for an internationally-chaired independent inquiry have intensified since the publication in June of the Saville report into the British Army killings of 14 people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.

Some of the soldiers who were involved in that notorious incident in Derry had been in Ballymurphy six months earlier.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said Bishop Treanor would take a tour of the area where the shootings took place before handing over the archive files to the relatives.

The documents include the church's report into what happened, based on eyewitness accounts. A number of British military personnel are among those interviewed. The authors of the report said the killings were not justified.

West Belfast MP Gerry Adams said: "The families of those killed have borne this trauma for almost 40 years. They have courageously campaigned for the truth. I welcome the fact that the church is now prepared to release eyewitness accounts which lend support to the families' quest for a fully independent international investigation in these deaths."

SIC: BT