The British Government was tonight reported to be considering the appointment of an international judge to consider whether inquiries should be held into a series of high profile murders in Northern Ireland.
The cases of Catholic Mr Robert Hamill and solicitors, Ms Rosemary Nelson and Mr Pat Finucane would be studied under the proposal, as well as the killings of two top RUC men, a judge and his wife and loyalist commander Billy Wright, according to a report on BBC Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Office refused to comment on the claim.
Nationalists have long demanded independent international judicial inquiries into the Hamill, Nelson and Finucane murders claiming security force incompetence and collusion.
The others have been the focus of unionist protests with Irish police alleged to have been involved in the killings of senior RUC men Mr Harry Breen and Mr Bob Buchanan and Lord Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife Cecily in two separate attacks on the Irish border.
Loyalists have alleged an official conspiracy in the murder of Loyalist Volunteer Force commander Billy Wright in the Maze Prison in 1997.
The proposed review would begin next year and the government would have the option of rejecting its recommendations, according to the report.
PA