Nationalist politicians stepped up demands yesterday for the British government to order a sworn inquiry into collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and intelligence officers in the RUC and British army.
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, said he had approached Downing Street yesterday to argue that Judge Peter Cory, the retired Canadian called in to assess calls for a wider judicial inquiry, had completed his examination of the Pat Finucane murder.
The judge is said to be keeping his decision confidential until the autumn when he intends to issue his complete report.
Mr Durkan said: "Some have speculated that Judge Cory is likely to recommend a public inquiry. Indeed, it is almost impossible to see how anyone could argue that an inquiry is not necessary after the Stevens revelations."
He continued: "The SDLP does not believe that the families of those murdered with state collusion should have to wait until October. They have already waited long enough."
Mr Durkan claimed that lack of public confidence in the Director of Public Prosecutions reinforced the need for a public inquiry.
"Stevens has now sent his files to the DPP. The public is asked to have confidence in this. But this is the same DPP who, without any explanation, dropped arms possession charges against informer William Stobie after he threatened to reveal all that he knew about the Finucane killing. So clearly the public will not have confidence in the DPP on this."
He added: "That is why the only way forward has to be a full public independent judicial inquiry."
A West Belfast Sinn Féin councillor said the "culture of collusion is still alive and well". Mr Fra McCann stated: "Two members of the Sinn Féin security team were visited and told that their personal details had fallen into the hands of unionist paramilitaries. This is not an unusual occurrence for republicans in recent times.
"Questions need answering," he said. "Who collates the information on republicans in the first place? Who passes it on to the unionist death squads? The answer is simple. It is the PSNI Special Branch and in particular the same individuals who along with [the British army's] Force Research Unit plotted and carried out a campaign of murder against the nationalist community for years."
He said: "These people remain unaccountable and at the core of the SDLP-supported PSNI."
The claims were made as the BBC reported yesterday that Judge Cory was opposed to the publication of Sir John Stevens's interim report into collusion. It reported claims by sources that the judge believed publication intruded on his role. The judge refused to comment on the claims.