THE Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Sir Patrick Mayhew, will shortly receive recommendations from Prison Service officials reviewing the case of two British soldiers, Mark Wright and James Fisher, who are serving sentences in Northern Ireland for murder.
Wright and Fisher, who were jailed for the 1992 murder of an 18 year old Belfast man, Mr Peter McBride, are both serving life sentences. Mr McBride was shot twice in the back.
However, the soldiers were granted a judicial review saying that the Life Service Review Board, which looks into the length of prisoners' sentences, should decide on a date to review their case.
A Prison Service spokesman rejected suggestions that both prisoners were due to be transferred to a Scottish jail from Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim. The spokesman also denied that moves to free the two soldiers would begin within days.
The Secretary of State is expected to receive advice about the case from officers of the Prison Service Internal Review Board. A spokesman said that Sir Patrick would then deal with the case without delay.
The spokesman for the Secretary of State rebutted suggestions that the soldiers would be released within days or weeks.
Mr Gerry Kelly, of Sinn Fein, said: "A decision to release Wright and Fisher will clearly be a political decision taken by a British establishment, which has constantly sought to protect those who kill on its behalf. This case, as did the cases of Lee Clegg and Ian Thain, exposes the double standards of the British government."