SHORT TAKES : British to Air TV Show on Killers

LONDON — Britain’s independent television watchdog refused today to ban a television program accusing five men by name of killing 21 people with bombs placed in bars in Birmingham, England, in 1974.

The Supreme Court in Dublin also turned down a last-minute request from one of the five--who was not identified in court--to prevent him from being named in an Irish broadcast of the program shortly after its British screening.

The program is part of a campaign to prove the innocence of six Irishmen--known as the Birmingham Six--who have been in prison for 15 years after being convicted of planting the bombs for the Irish Republican Army which is fighting British rule in Northern Ireland.

The drama-documentary, titled “Who Bombed Birmingham?” and made by Britain’s Granada Television, is to be screened in both countries tonight.