Assembly debates inquiry motion

Pat Finucane was killed at his Belfast home in 1989

Sinn Fein has failed to win approval for an assembly motion calling for an independent public inquiry into claims of collusion between the security forces and loyalists.

A majority of assembly members supported a Democratic Unionist Party amendment which rejected the allegations.

The amendment on Tuesday also congratulated the security forces in upholding the law.

Mary Nelis, who tabled the Sinn Fein motion, called on the British Government to establish the truth about the "dirty war in Ireland over the past 30 years".

Rosemary Nelson: Killed in car bomb

Mrs Nelis alleged that members of the British Government knew who killed Catholic solicitors Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane and continued to cover up the activities of "loyalist death squads".

But her claims were rejected as "black propaganda" by Ulster Unionist minister Michael McGimpsey.

And the DUP's, Sammy Wilson, accused Sinn Fein of hypocrisy.

The SDLP's Alban Maginness said both the motion and amendment were "symptomatic of the selective view which exists in the assembly".

"This motion in reality is not concerned with the truth but concerned with establishing a version of the truth."

Rosemary Nelson was killed in a car bomb outside her home in Lurgan, County Armagh in March 1999. The killing was claimed by the loyalist splinter group the Red Hand Defenders.

Ten years earlier, Mr Finucane had been shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in front of his wife and children at his north Belfast home.

There have also been calls for a public inquiry into the death of Robert Hamill, a Catholic man kicked to death by a loyalist gang in Portadown, County Armagh in 1997.

At the weekend, relatives of Mr Finucane warned nationalist leaders against accepting a watered-down inquiry into the killing as part of any deal to secure their backing for new policing arrangements.

Pat Finucane: Shot dead in front of family

His family have sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The letter said: "It would be unfortunate if the nationalist parties took the view that something less than what the families are seeking would be acceptable to their electorate."

The murder is the subject of an external investigation, headed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, into alleged security force collusion with loyalists.

One man, William Stobie is currently awaiting trial, charged with aiding and abetting the killing of Mr Finucane.