A US law to bar the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from training the RUC began passage through Congress here last night.
The amendment, which was approved unanimously in the International Relations Committee, would end the regular training courses for RUC middle-grade officers with the FBI unless President Clinton certifies that the investigations into the murders of two Northern Ireland solicitors, Ms Rosemary Nelson and Mr Pat Finucane, were "independent, credible and transparent".
The President would also have to certify that the British government had taken "appropriate steps to protect defence attorneys against RUC harassment in Northern Ireland".
The two Congressmen who submitted the amendment, Mr Chris Smith and Mr Peter King, told The Irish Times that it meant that the RUC could have no involvement in the murder investigations. The amendment has been attached to the State Department Authorisation Bill, which will later go for approval to the full House of Representatives.
The committee is today expected to approve a resolution calling on the British government to launch an inquiry into the murder of Ms Nelson which is "totally independent" of the RUC and to set up "an independent judicial inquiry into allegations that defence attorneys are systematically harassed and intimidated by security forces".
The chairman of the committee, Mr Ben Gilman, when voting for the ban on FBI training of the RUC, conceded that the amendment could result in "cutting off Catholic officers' training and their getting the National Academic (NA) Degree and the FBI awards, which in turn help them get promotion". However, the issue of an independent inquiry into the murder of Ms Nelson was overriding and justified "this serious action".
Several FBI officers have been assisting in the investigation into the murder of Ms Nelson at the request of the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
Earlier this year, the FBI organised a joint training course for middle-grade Garda and RUC officers in the US. It was the first time there has been such a joint course.
FBI training courses for the RUC are said to take place fairly regularly.
Protests by Irish-American groups recently disrupted plans for a joint Garda-RUC boxing team to fight against a New York police team in a charity event in New York.