Loyalist group says it murdered leading lawyer

The Red Hand Defenders, a loyalist paramilitary group, last night said that it had been responsible for yesterday's booby-trap carbomb which killed Ms Rosemary Nelson in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Ms Nelson (40), who was one of Northern Ireland's most prominent solicitors, had represented nationalist clients in several high-profile cases.

Lurgan was tense after the killing. About 150 nationalists marched through the town to protest outside the local RUC station. Later, police and British soldiers were attacked with petrol-bombs at the spot where Ms Nelson was killed. About eight or nine petrolbombs were thrown, according to the RUC. Cars were set alight in the nationalist Kilwilkee estate in Lurgan.

In Portadown, a crowd of between 300 and 400 nationalists gathered on the Garvaghy Road. Two lorries were hijacked and set alight, forcing the RUC to close the road.

The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, vowed that no effort would be spared in "hunting down" those responsible for the killing.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, departed from a prepared speech in San Francisco to refer to the "assassination of one of the leading people in the world of law". He said that the murder had sent "shock waves through the international community".

President Clinton said that the killing was "a despicable and cowardly act by the enemies of peace". He added: "Our deepest sympathies go out to all her family and friends. It is long past time for the bloodshed to end once and for all."

Ms Nelson, who was married with three children - two boys aged 13 and 11 and a girl aged eight - suffered severe leg and abdominal injuries when a bomb attached to her BMW car exploded shortly after she drove away from her home in Lurgan at lunchtime.

The Red Hand Defenders have been responsible for several sectarian attacks on Catholics in the past six months. They admitted murdering a north Belfast Catholic, Mr Brian Service, last October, and were also blamed for the killing of a Catholic RUC officer, Mr Frankie O'Reilly, in Portadown around the same time.

The Red Hand Defenders and Orange Volunteers are cover names which are used by dissident loyalist paramilitaries - elements of the Ulster Defence Association, which declared a ceasefire in October 1994, but which has since split up into local groups, and the remnants of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, which also declared a ceasefire last year - to admit responsibility for attacks on Catholic targets, including homes, pubs and churches.

The dissident loyalists have been stepping up their attacks since last October with the intention of derailing the North's political process.

Ms Nelson had complained of loyalist paramilitary and RUC threats against her. A senior officer from the London Metropolitan Police recently completed an investigation into allegations of threats made to Ms Nelson by RUC officers while they were interviewing clients of hers at both Gough and Castlereagh holding centres. The London police officer was called in to take over the inquiry from the RUC by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints. Ms Nelson had been invited by the ICPC to attend a meeting on March 30th to discuss the findings of the inquiry.

Ms Nelson represented Mr Colin Duffy, the Lurgan republican who was successful in an appeal against a 1993 murder conviction. Charges against him of murdering two police constables in Lurgan were also dropped. She also represented the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition and the Hamill family, whose son, Robert, was beaten to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown.

The RUC chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, has asked for a senior British police officer to supervise an investigation into the killing of Ms Nelson, the RUC has confirmed.

A spokesman said the Chief Constable "has been in touch with Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and requested that a chief officer from another force be appointed to oversee the investigation".

The RUC also said Mr Flanagan had contacted the director of the FBI, Mr Louis Freeh, to discuss expertise his organisation could provide to assist in the investigation.