Man held over Antrim murders

A man was arrested today by police investigating the Real IRA murders of two soldiers at the gates of a British army base in …

A man was arrested today by police investigating the Real IRA murders of two soldiers at the gates of a British army base in Co Antrim earlier this year.

The man(47) was detained in Belfast and taken to the Police Service's serious crime suite in Antrim, said a police spokesman.

He is being questioned about the murders of Sappers Patrick Azimkar (21) from London, and Mark Quinsey (23) from Birmingham, who were gunned down at the gates of Massereene Barracks in Antrim in March.

He is also being questioned about the attempted murder of five people in the same gun attack, two of them drivers delivering pizza to the soldiers who were having a last snack before being due to head off for a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Leading dissident republican Colin Duffy (41) from Lurgan, Co Armagh, has been charged with the murders. A second man, cystic fibrosis sufferer Brian Shivers (44) from Magherafelt, Co Derry, has also been charged with the killings. He was granted bail because of his condition.

The soldiers were the first to be murdered in Northern Ireland in 12 years, and their deaths were followed two days later by the Continuity IRA murder of Pc Stephen Carroll in Craigavon.

He was the first policeman to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 1998.

Meanwhile a 33-year-old man was taken from Maghaberry Prison to the Antrim serious crime suite today to be questioned by officers from the Historical Enquiries Team about a series of punishment shootings and beatings between 1996 and 2001.

He was later returned to the prison and a file submitted to the Public Prosecution Service, said the police spokesman.

PA