An influential American body has backed calls for a public inquiry into the death of murdered solicitor Mr Pat Finucane.
The National Committee on American Foreign Policy called on the British government to set up a full judicial investigation into the 1989 murder of the Belfast lawyer after hearing from his widow Geraldine and his former legal partner Mr Peter Madden.
At a meeting in New York the committee's chairman, Mr Bill Flynn, said the murder raised issues of human rights violations which had to be put to rest for the peace process in Northern Ireland to succeed.
Mr Finucane, a leading Catholic solicitor, was shot dead by loyalist gunmen in front of his wife and three children at his home in Belfast in February 1989.
His death has been surrounded by claims that he died as a result of collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries - claims which are the subject of an inquiry by a team headed by British Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens.
One man, Mr William Stobie, a former UDA quartermaster who worked as a Special Branch agent, currently awaits trial on charges of aiding and abetting the murder but there are doubts that prosecution will go ahead.
Mr Flynn said: "This murder involved alleged collusion between the RUC and the British Army and loyalist paramilitaries, as well as other British institutions.
"The National Committee on American Foreign Policy adds its voice to those calling for a public inquiry."
PA