IRA rebel held over dual killing

Published on Saturday 14 March 2009 18:59

POLICE investigating the murder of two soldiers in Northern Ireland yesterday arrested three men.

A 41-year-old was arrested following a raid on a house in a private estate in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Two other men aged 21 and 32 were arrested today after police raids in Lurgan and Bellaghy, Co Londonderry.

Sources claimed one of the three was a former IRA prisoner who had broken away from mainstream republicans.

Two soldiers, Patrick Azimkar, 21, and Mark Quinsey, 23, were killed in the Real IRA ambush hours before they were to fly to Afghanistan. The men were gunned down as they collected pizzas at the gates of Massereene barracks. Two soldiers were injured and two pizza delivery men were also wounded in the attack.

The Continuity IRA and the Real IRA are dissident republican groups that broke away from mainstream republicanism in opposition to the peace process.

They reject the decision of the mainstream IRA to end violence, decommission weapons and follow purely peaceful means to pursue republican political goals.

One of the arrested men is said to be a member of the republican protest group Eirigi, which has not supported the new police service, but which insists it is a peaceful pressure group.

Eirigi, which is Irish for 'rise up', released a statement in response to the shootings insisting it did not support violent groups.

Earlier this week it said: "Eirigi is an open, independent, democratic political party which is not aligned to, or supportive of, any armed organisation."

Meanwhile, detectives continue to examine CCTV footage from the area of the barracks and have also found what is believed to be the gunmen's getaway car seven miles from the scene of the murders. The green Vauxhall Cavalier – TDZ 7309 – was found in Randalstown, Co Antrim, and had been bought two weeks earlier.

It is understood the gunmen had tried to burn the car out, but it had not ignited. The claim has led to speculation that the discovery of the car may have provided police with opportunities to secure forensic evidence.

The two young soldiers were the first to be murdered in Northern Ireland in 12 years. Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was killed by an IRA sniper in 1997.

Police are also questioning three people over the murder of police constable Stephen Carroll, 48, who was killed by gunmen from the Continuity IRA in an attack launched in Craigavon, Co Armagh on Monday night.

His funeral on Friday was attended by senior officers, politicians and leaders from across the community.