Britain's top soldier is to be recalled to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry to give fresh evidence about a controversial army document relating to the killings of 13 people in January 1972, writes George Jackson.
Gen Sir Michael Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, is to be questioned about a so-called handwritten "shot list" document which refers to 15 separate engagements with civilian gunmen in the Bogside area of Derry on Bloody Sunday.
The document, which was described as "glaringly inadequate" by the inquiry's counsel, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, had previously been attributed to Maj Ted Loden, who was commander of Support Company, the unit of the Parachute Regiment responsible for the 13 deaths and for the wounding of 13 other civilians.
The "shot list" was discovered by a soldier in an army camp in Derry five years ago. The soldier copied it and then tried to send the copies to a relative. It consisted of notes of interviews carried out immediately after the killings with paratroopers who had opened fire.
When Gen Jackson gave his evidence to the inquiry last April, he said he had no memory of taking part in the interviewing process, but in a second statement that he has submitted to the hearing, he accepted that the handwriting on the document was his.
Yesterday the inquiry's chairman, Lord Saville of Newdigate, announced that the inquiry had concluded: "Gen Jackson should be recalled to give further evidence to the tribunal, and we are putting in hand arrangements to bring him back as soon as convenient to all concerned".
Meanwhile, the former soldier who was a section commander in the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday yesterday rejected an allegation that he had witnessed the murder of an unarmed civilian on the day and that he had then taken part in a deliberately concocted story with his colleagues in an attempt to cover up the incident.
The witness, known as Soldier 014, said that on the day he had seen two men "leopard crawling" behind a barricade towards the direction of the Rossville Flats complex.
He believed one of the men was armed with a rifle. "One of the two soldiers to my right fired two shots at the crawling men. I cannot say if the men were hit," he said.
However, Mr Brian McCartney, who represents several of the victims' families, said that the two men were "two kids crawling for their lives, and such was the breakdown of order among you and your colleagues, they were shot at", he said. Mr McCartney then accused Soldier 014 of taking part in "a hurriedly concocted attempt to justify the murder of a young man".
Mr Edwin Glasgow QC, who represents most of the soldiers, asked Soldier 014 if he was "quite clear" about the allegation that was being made against him. "I think you appreciate today, do you, that it is being said to you that you entered into a criminal agreement, a conspiracy with other people, to tell lies about what you know to have been a murder", said Mr Glasgow. The witness said there was no truth in the allegation.
The inquiry was adjourned until Monday.