Trimble blasts Mowlam over prison killing

The British minister responsible for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, has agreed toreconsider demands from Protestant politicians in the province for a public inquiry into the killing of a Protestant paramilitary leader in prison.

Three members of an Irish nationalist paramilitary group held in the same jail have been charged with the murder.

The minister's statement follows a meeting with the leader of Northern Ireland's main Protestant political party, David Trimble, who accused Miss Mowlam of pursuing a policy of appeasement towards the IRA.

He said it had been possible to smuggle the guns used in the killing into the jail because prison officers were not allowed into the visiting area, and detector machines had been switched off.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service