A former member of the Provisional IRA yesterday became the first paramilitary witness to waive his right to anonymity when giving evidence to the Bloody Sunday inquiry.
Just 24 hours after he had successfully applied for anonymity to give evidence to the 408th day of the hearing on the basis that his life could be in danger if he was named in public, Mr William Joseph Anderson yesterday spent 90 minutes in the witness box in Derry's Guildhall.
Prior to giving his evidence, Mr Anderson could only have been identified as PIRA 18, but after he was sworn, he agreed with the inquiry's counsel, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, that he "no longer desired to be anonymous for the purpose of these proceedings".
During the course of his evidence to the inquiry into the January 1972 killings by British army paratroopers of 13 unarmed civilians and woundings of 13 others during a civil rights march in the Bogside area of Derry, the witness was thanked by barrister Edwin Glasgow QC, who represents most of the Bloody Sunday soldiers, for waiving his anonymity.
However Mr. Anderson, when pressed by Mr Glasgow to name other members of the Provisional IRA at the time of Bloody Sunday, refused to do so and said it was their personal decision whether or not to do so.
"I think it is up to their own conscience, you know, to come forward," Mr Anderson said.
In his evidence, the witness said had he joined the Creggan Company of the Provisional IRA six months before Bloody Sunday. He said the company contained about 15 members and there was also a company in the Bogside and Brandywell area of the city.
He said that at the time of Bloody Sunday he was serving a six-week suspension from the Provisionals which had been imposed after he and another volunteer had stolen and sent on fire a van which belonged to the Official IRA.
"A suspension from the movement meant that we were not invited to any meetings or permitted to get involved in anything for the duration of the suspension. As a result of my suspension, I was not privy to the activities of the Provisional IRA. on the day," he said.
"I am unable to comment on any activity of the Provisionals on January 30th, 1972, because I was suspended. Having said that, I believe that if there had been any activity carried out by my section or planned for my section on the day, I would have been told by one of my volunteer friends. My suspension may have been lifted in order to carry out any major operation that was planned by the Provisional IRA on Bloody Sunday. I do not believe there was any plan to do anything on Bloody Sunday," he said.
Mr Anderson said it had been suggested to the inquiry that the IRA used civilian marches as cover for attacking British soldiers.
"This is not accurate. I do not believe that anybody within the IRA would ever use a march as cover, although there may be times in a riot where a volunteer may have taken a pot-shot at the army. Marches would not be used as cover. If the army were shot at they would return fire and the chances of the army killing the individual that either threw the bomb or fired when they are in a large crowd of people are too small to not have major casualties," he said.
"I did not see any people shot on that day, although I saw plenty of bodies. I did not see anybody with guns on the day and I did not hear any explosions," he said.
The inquiry continues.