Belfast's lord mayor has vowed to boycott a British government minister at the centre of a row over retaining two convicted murderers in the British army.
Mr Martin Morgan insisted he will boycott all public functions attended by Mr John Spellar in protest at the decision to let Scots Guardsmen Mark Wright and JamesFisher remain in the regiment.
Even though the pair were found guilty of killing Belfast man Peter McBride (18) in 1992, the British government has rejected demands by the victim's family and nationalist representatives in the city to throw them out.
Campaigners' fury has centred on Mr Spellar, the Northern Ireland Office minister who sat on an army board that decided not to sack the pair.
Mr Morgan, an SDLP councillor, declared: "I as Lord Mayor am saying very clearly that for the remainder of my time, John Spellar is not welcome in my parlour or in my offices".
Mr McBride, a Catholic father of two, was gunned down near a military checkpoint in the New Lodge district of north Belfast.
The soldiers' claim that they opened fire amid suspicion that Mr McBride was carrying a coffee jar bomb was rejected and they were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 1995.
After serving just three years behind bars they were released and allowed to return to the army.
PA