Army did not consider killing marchers

The tribunal has moved to London to hear evidence

The British Army had not been considering killing people for taking part in illegal marches, a retired major general has told the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

In a secret paper written three days before Bloody Sunday, Major General Henry Dalzell-Payne examined ways to enforce a ban on marches.

But the retired officer, who worked for the military operations branch concerned with Northern Ireland in January 1972, denied the Army considered killing illegal marchers as a way to maintain law and order.

The Saville Inquiry is investigating the deaths of 13 men shot by the British Army at a civil rights march in the Bogside in Londonderry in 1972.

A 14th man died later.

Inquiry is examining events on Bloody Sunday

Under questioning from Arthur Harvey QC, representing most of the bereaved families, Mr Dalzell-Payne told the inquiry on Tuesday that senior officers wanted "firmer measures" to arrest hooligans.

"We were not contemplating disperse or we fire - that was the last thing in the world we were going to do," he said.

Mr Dalzell-Payne suggested his paper reflected "military thinking in terms of applying martial law to civilian situations".

He said that opening fire would been seen as a last resort in response to "our soldiers being killed at random".

Earlier the retired major general denied knowing that at least two units in Belfast had made requests to brigade headquarters for the Parachute Regiment to be kept out of their areas or that senior officers from those units had claimed their tactics were "too rough".

These claims were included in newspaper reports at the time.

The current inquiry is sitting in London where it is hearing evidence from about 300 military witnesses.

It was set up by Prime Minister Tony Blair because the relatives of those killed felt the Widgery Inquiry was "a whitewash" which exonerated the Army from blame.

The tribunal, moved to the Methodist Hall in Westminster in London last month from the Guildhall in Derry, where it had been sitting for the past two years.

Lord Saville: Began work on inquiry nearly four years ago

It followed court action by former soldiers who said they could be attacked by dissident republicans if they gave evidence in Derry.

Most of the soldiers will be anonymous - known only by a letter or number - but they will give evidence openly and not from behind screens.

The proceedings are being relayed by video-link to Derry.

The soldiers who fired the first shots on the day are not scheduled to give their evidence for at least several weeks.

Many of the relatives of those who died are in London to see the soldiers giving evidence.

Lord Saville and the Commonwealth judges who comprise the inquiry, began their work nearly four years ago and are not expected to report back until 2004.