Final Witness Testifies in ‘Bloody Sunday’ Probe

Six years after British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered a fresh probe into the 1972 killing of 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civilians by paratroopers in Northern Ireland, the 919th, and final, witness began testifying in the “Bloody Sunday” inquiry.

The last witness, known only as PIRA 24, was telling about his role as commander of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Londonderry 32 years ago, when British troops opened fire at a civil rights march.

Catholics’ sense of outrage was deepened when an inquiry soon after the event exonerated the soldiers, who said they returned fire after being fired on.