The terms of reference of the inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson have been broadened to test whether the British army or British intelligence agencies were implicated in her killing.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that President George Bush agreed with him that the British government was reneging on a pledge to allow a full and independent inquiry into the UDA murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989.
Northern Secretary Paul Murphy yesterday acceded to a request from the Rosemary Nelson inquiry team to widen the scope of the official probe into her murder. As well as examining whether the RUC and/or Northern Ireland Office in any way colluded in her killing, the inquiry team can now investigate whether the British army and/or British intelligence agencies were involved.
Ms Nelson died on March 15th six years ago when a suspected Loyalist Volunteer Force bomb exploded under her car at her Lurgan home. Nobody was charged with her killing.
Ms Nelson, a hate figure to many loyalists and some unionists, was a high-profile solicitor who represented a number of leading republicans and also acted on behalf of the Garvaghy Road residents during the annual Drumcree disputes in Portadown.
The inquiry is chaired by Sir Michael Morland, a retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales.
The other two members are Dame Valerie Strachan, former chairwoman of the board of British Customs and Excise, and Sir Anthony Burden, former chief constable of South Wales Police.
They asked the Northern Secretary to extend the inquiry's terms of reference because they were concerned that they were "insufficiently wide" to enable them to "effectively and thoroughly" carry out their task.
Mr Murphy explained that their concern was to "make clear beyond any doubt that the actions of the [British] army and the security and intelligence agencies" fell within their scope.
The opening hearing of the inquiry is in Craigavon on April 19th.
In a written ministerial statement yesterday Mr Murphy amended the terms of the inquiry as follows: "To inquire into the death of Rosemary Nelson with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Northern Ireland Office, army or other state agency facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of her death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations."
The inquiry is one of four recommended by retired Canadian judge Peter Cory.
Inquiries will also be held into the INLA murder of LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison in 1997; the beating to death by a loyalist mob of Robert Hamill in Portadown the same year; and the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
