Alex Murphy and Henry Maguire had served 10 years of a life sentence for the murders of Army corporals David Howes and Derek Wood.

Corporal Derek Wood

The soldiers were beaten, tortured and eventually shot when they drove into the path of a republican funeral in Belfast in March 1988.

Mourners of Kevin Brady said they believed they were under attack from loyalists when they heard the corporal's car screech to a halt.

As the soldiers, members of the Signals Regiment, tried to reverse away, their path was blocked by a line of taxis.

The men were dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were stripped and beaten.

They were then taken to wasteground by Murphy and Maguire and shot repeatedly.

Television crews and an army observation helicopter there to cover the funeral, captured the attack on film.

Linked killings

Corporal David Howes

The soldiers' deaths were the culmination of a series of linked killings, which started with the shooting of three IRA members by the SAS in Gibraltar.

The IRA funeral was attacked by loyalist Michael Stone who killed three mourners - including Kevin Brady.

Murphy and Maguire were among four men released from the Maze and Magilligan prisons, on Thursday.

Half an hour before their release, Johnny Adair, leader of the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters, was let out on four days parole.