The Bloody Sunday inquiry yesterday described as "reasonable and genuine" the belief of a former Provisional IRA and INLA man that his life would be in danger if he had to give his evidence to the inquiry both unscreened and in Derry.
Paddy Ward's submitted statement to the inquiry contains a series of highly controversial allegations against Martin McGuinness who, at the time of the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in January 1972, was second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in the city.
He accuses Sinn Féin's chief negotiator of planning a nail bomb attack prior to the killings of 13 civil rights marchers by British army paratroopers on Bloody Sunday. Mr Ward, who was the then commander of the youth wing of the Provisional IRA in Derry, also claims that Mr McGuinness arranged for the delivery of 16 detonators for the nail bombs just hours before the killings and he alleges that one of the Bloody Sunday victims, Gerry Donaghy, was armed with two nail bombs just hours before he was shot dead.
Mr McGuinness has described Mr Ward's allegations as "ridiculous" and said he will defend himself against them when Mr Ward gives his evidence.
Mr Ward had asked the inquiry to permit him to give evidence to the hearing in London and not in Derry and that he should be allowed to do so from behind a screen to protect his identity.
Yesterday the inquiry granted Mr Ward's application which was based on his fears for his life.
"Taking into account a threat assessment by the PSNI, the tribunal have concluded that Mr Ward's fears for his safety are reasonable and genuine," the inquiry's three judges ruled.
"These fears are based on what he describes as the known Provisional IRA response, namely death, to an informer, which he might be termed because of his statement to the inquiry, previous allegations of treachery made against him by the INLA and a newspaper article that described him as an informer for the RUC.
"In addition, he claims that in 1983 he was kidnapped, beaten and threatened with death by the INLA before he escaped. Under the circumstances, the tribunal concluded that his rights under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prevail over the inroad into the public nature of the inquiry and have ruled that he should be able to give his oral evidence in London rather than Londonderry and that he should be screened from public view when giving that evidence," the ruling added.
Meanwhile a Bloody Sunday paratrooper, who had refused to give evidence to the inquiry, has changed his mind. The paratrooper, known as Soldier L, had a subpoena served on him on Monday ordering him to attend the inquiry on Tuesday. However, when he refused to attend, the inquiry cited Soldier L to the High Court for contempt.
Yesterday, however, Soldier L's barrister, Ms Rosamund Horwood-Smart, said her client was now "much more minded to be co-operative with the inquiry" and would be making an immediate application for screening.
Also during the 368th day of the inquiry a witness, who was a captain in the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday, rejected an allegation that he was "a willing participant in a conspiracy of deceit" after the killings. Barrister Brian McCartney, who represents several of the victims' families, said Captain 200 was one of four officers who took part in a television interview shortly after Bloody Sunday.
"This was really a case of all hands to the pumps, everybody is expected to do their bit. The regimental ship is going down here in a frenzy of media criticism and we are expected, in the traditions of the Parachute Regiment, to come out fighting. This interview was really another means of doing that," Mr McCartney said. Captain 200 said he disagreed with Mr McCartney's assertions.