'Collusion' claim by priest after killings

by Paul Goodman WHILE the sectarian murder
campaign by loyalist paramilitaries continues to claim U rising death toll in Northern Ireland, former Maze prison chaplain Fr Denis Paul has warned of "collusion" between the security forces and extremist gunmen.
Speaking after the assassination of 32-year-old Catholic Sean Anderson in Co Tyrone last week, Fr Paul protested that the Catholic community had been left "completely in the dark" by the authorities.
"Fourteen Catholics have been killed in this area during the last few years, and yet no one has been charged. Furthermore, the weapons used have not been identified, and no information concerning their ballistic history has been made available to the Catholic community the opposite procedure to that often carried out following IRA murders.
"We want to know if the gun that killed Sean Anderson was stolen from a UDR armoury. Catholics in this area have long been suspicious of collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, and public statements concerning the history of such weapons would be one way of alleviating these fears."
Fr Feld was speaking against the background of an assassination campaign being waged by loyalist groups such as the UVF and the UFF which has resulted in the murder of eight Catholics during the last month.
The campaign is believed to be aimed at forcing the British government to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards Unionism during the pre-election period.
Fr Faul said that the Catholic community feels "defenceless, isolated, and vulnerable", and urged Catholic MPs and churchmen to "spell out our fears in detail".
He said that there was particular anger over recent remarks by RUC Chief Constable Hugh Annesley, who described loyalist violence as "reactive."
A man was charged this week with the murder of Michael Lenaghan, a Catholic taxi driver who was shot earlier this year.