Former Northern Ireland prime minister Brian Faulkner would have been sceptical of British army assessments that those shot dead on Bloody Sunday were IRA gunmen, it was claimed today.
Mr Brian Cummings, who was Mr Faulkner's private secretary on January 30th, 1972, when 13 unarmed civilians were killed during a civil rights march in Derry, told the Saville Inquiry Mr Faulkner would have been aware of events over the years where the British army had made inaccurate claims.
"I have been asked if Mr Faulkner might have taken the view . . . that he welcomed events as 'clearing the air' if it was at the time believed that those killed had been IRA gunmen.
"I think Mr Faulkner would have been sceptical about claims that those killed were terrorists," Mr Cummings said.
"I take this view because I have knowledge, and I believe Mr Faulkner would too, of incidents over the years where the army had claimed that events had happened a certain way and then, on further investigation, its claims had notbeen borne out."
As Private Secretary to the prime minister, Mr Cummings attended meetings of the Joint Security Committee (JSC) a cabinet sub-committee which was attended byMr Faulkner, the GOC for Northern Ireland General Harry Tuzo and the Chief Constable of the RUC Sir Graham Shillington.
He told the inquiry that he had no recollection of General Tuzo advocating shooting people in the streets in a JSC meeting two weeks before Bloody Sunday.
He also had no recollection of warnings during a JSC meeting three days before the civil rights march that the army operation could develop into a "shooting war".
Asked about the British army's insistence on the right to "shoot to kill" during public disorder, Mr Cummings said he believed Mr Faulkner would have preferred that soldiers shoot over the heads of rioters.
PA