New hearings are to be held into six deaths at the centre of an alleged police shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland 25 years ago.
Coroner John Leckey confirmed yesterday he will begin examining the cases in Belfast next month.
They involve the shooting of three IRA men, Seán Burns, Gervaise McKerr and Eugene Toman, INLA suspects Peter Grew and Roderick Carroll, and Catholic teenager Michael Tighe.
The killings, by a special RUC unit, provoked controversy and led to former Greater Manchester Police deputy chief constable John Stalker being brought in to investigate.
But his report was never published and demands for a fresh inquiry into the Burns, McKerr and Toman deaths have been resisted.
The IRA men died when the car they were travelling in was fired on near Lurgan, Co Armagh in November 1982.
Earlier inquests into the killings were abandoned amid legal wrangling and deepening controversy.
Peter Madden, solicitor for the men's families, claimed yesterday police officers involved could be brought to give evidence.
He said: "The surviving RUC men responsible for firing more than 100 rounds at the car containing the deceased will now be compellable witnesses at the inquest and shall be cross-examined by the families' lawyers.
"The coroner's verdict can make explicit factual findings pointing towards a conclusion that criminal or civil responsibility exists." Mr Leckey's decision to hold preliminary hearings has reignited demands for full publication of the Stalker dossier.
He also probed events surrounding the shooting of Michael Tighe (17) at a hayshed near Craigavon, Co Armagh, the same month. IRA explosives had been stored there, but Tighe was not connected to the organisation.
In December 1982, Grew and Carroll were shot dead outside Armagh after being followed across the Border by a police surveillance unit.
Sinn Féin MLA John O'Dowd demanded full disclosure at the hearings in a bid to close to the cases. He said: "It's 25 years on and the families of these men just want to know the truth. They have also called for the publication of the Stalker report.
"The British government and Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde can move on if they publish it and people can examine what happened then. It will give the same closure to them." He added: "I certainly hope that no barriers will be placed in the way of John Leckey this time and I urge Hugh Orde not to sanction public immunity certificates as this would not be appropriate."