Finucane campaign will continue

Mrs Geraldine Finucane accused the British government of ongoing delaying tactics and vowed that the campaign for an inquiry would continue.

``Justice Cory's report confirms that there was a state policy of targeting and assassination. The public should read details in his report.

``It is unbelievable, but the official documents that he examined show that it is all true.''

``We did not ask for the Stevens investigation. We did not ask for Justice Cory to prepare a report and we certainly have never asked for prosecutions. We have always said that these were delaying tactics and the delay continues.

``But the campaign for a public inquiry will also continue.''

In her statement, Mrs Finucane pointed out that British Direct Ruler Paul Murphy did not refer to the fact that Justice Cory said in his report that this may be one of the rare situations where a public inquiry would be of greater benefit to a community than prosecutions.

Asked if she was angry, she replied: ``Of course I'm angry. I'm tired of the delay.''

The Dublin government said it will continue to press for a judicial inquiry into the murder.

Spokesmen for Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen warned that London could cite ongoing investigations and prosecutions to prevent a Finucane inquiry for the foreseeable future.

A Dublin official was reported as saying that the inquiry appeared to have been ``long-fingered indefinitely''.

Last night, Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly pointed out that the British government had paid little heed to court procedures when it urged the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) to pass judgement on the recent alleged abduction of republican dissident Bobby Tohill.

Human rights groups welcomed the announcement of the three public inquiries but expressed anger that an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane would be delayed.

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) said it was disappointed at what it said was a failure by the British government to fully honour commitments made in Weston Park in 2001.

Acting director Paul Mageean said that in the Finucane case Judge Cory had found evidence of ``widespread collusion infecting all aspects of the security apparatus in Northern Ireland.

``This collusion reached levels of political responsibility.

.It is a fear of revealing this reality which appears to be the motivation for the government's continuing prevarication on the Finucane case -- not some belated interest in justice for the Finucane family.''

A spokesperson for Amnesty International also said: ``In failing to establish an immediate public inquiry into the killing of Patrick Finucane, the UK government is making a mockery of its commitment to ascertaining the truth and to the rule of law.''

A spokesman for campaign group Relatives for Justice also questioned the motives for delaying the Finucane inquiry, and said there was a need for many families to discover the truth about the deaths of their relatives.

``Whilst we welcome fully the announcement for the families involved, there are numerous other families in similar circumstances across the community who also require the truth about the deaths of their loved ones. It is in this context that we must find a mechanism to deal with our past,'' he said.

Urgent Appeal