Relative of Sinn Fein official held

A brother-in-law of Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein deputy leader supposed to oversee a new power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, was charged with kidnapping and assaulting a couple in an IRA-style operation.

Marvin Canning, 45, gave a clenched-fist salute to cheering supporters outside Londonderry Magistrates Court shortly before he was arraigned on seven criminal counts in Monday’s abduction of the couple in the Irish Republic.

McGuinness sought to distance himself from Canning and emphasize the new commitment by Sinn Fein -- traditionally the IRA’s political arm -- to uphold law and order in the British province of Northern Ireland.