A US judge ruled on Saturday that a man convicted in connection with the murder of two British corporals in Belfast over 16 years ago should not be deported back to Ireland.
Seán Ó Ceallaigh, from west Belfast, was jailed for aiding and abetting the violent killings of the soldiers, shot by IRA gunmen when their vehicle became caught up in an IRA funeral procession in March 1988.
Mr Ó Ceallaigh was one of three men sentenced to life in 1990 for his part in the murders.
The 35-year-old was freed from the Maze prison in 1998 under the Belfast Agreement's early-release scheme. He moved to the US the following year and was granted permanent residency in 2001.
Mr Ó Ceallaigh has been remanded in a US government detention centre since February 25th, as a US prosecutor sought his deportation back to Ireland for committing a crime of "moral turpitude".
But Judge Rose Peters ruled on Saturday that his crime was "purely political", presenting no grounds for his removal from the US.
Ms Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said they were looking to take further action.
"The judge ruled against the government. We believe the judge's decision is in error," she said.
Mr Ó Ceallaigh is being held at a processing centre and the government has 30 days to appeal. Ms Kice added: "We are reviewing the matter to see whether we can keep him in custody."
The murders are regarded as one of the most shocking incidents of the Troubles, not least because of the graphic television footage which showed the corporals being pulled from their car and beaten amidst hundreds of republican mourners.
The violence formed part of a sequence of events triggered by the shootings of three IRA members by the SAS in Gibraltar.
Their funerals in Belfast were disrupted by an attack by Ulster Defence Association gunman Michael Stone, who killed three people, including IRA member Caoimhín Macbraigh.
It was during his funeral that the two corporals were shot. The IRA later claimed mourners believed the car contained loyalist gunmen planning a similar attack.
"I never touched any of the two corporals," Mr Ó Ceallaigh said. He also claimed he was never a member of the IRA.
- (PA)