The British government was today urged by a senior US politician to publicly acknowledge members of the RUC and British army colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of Northern Ireland murders.
During a visit to Belfast, Congressman Martin Meehan said recognition that collusion took place could help negotiations to persuade Sinn Féin to sign up to policing.
As he prepared to meet victims of loyalist violence, the Congressman said:
"Fundamentally people should understand the perspective of Sinn Fein, even in these negotiations, is directly linked to the atrocities and the murders and the corruption that have taken place in the past.
"I have long believed it is in the interests of Northern Ireland and the British Government to come forward and come clean.
"Sometimes acknowledging truth is the most powerful way to acknowledge change. What we need is a change in the way the police force operates - that is beginning to happen here.
"I think it would go a long way for the British government to recognise that acknowledging the atrocities of the past is a way to deliver change for a positive future."
A report published this week by an international panel of human rights experts claimed it had uncovered considerable and credible evidence of British Army and RUC collusion in 74 sectarian murders in Northern Ireland during the 1970s.
The investigation of 25 loyalist atrocities, commissioned by the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, found senior Royal Ulster Constabulary and Ulster Defence Regiment officers were aware and in some cases approved of collusion. It also said officials in London had enough information about collusion to intervene.