Dr Mowlam bans terror groups

She explains her thinking before the ban

Mowlam Bans Terror Groups

One is the Loyalist Volunteer Force, which is made up of dissident former members of the Ulster Volunteer Force in mid-Ulster. The LVF has recently admitted murdering a Catholic man and planting a bomb in Dundalk.

It has also threatened to take action against prison officers unless some of its members are transferred from Maghabery Jail to a Loyalist wing of the Maze Prison to join hardline Loyalist Billy Wright.

The other is the Republican Continuity Army Council, which was behind the bombing of the Killyhevlin hotel in Enniskillen in July last year. The CAA broke away from the IRA because it opposed the 1994 ceasefire.

Dr Mowlam signed an emergency order proscribing both organisations with effect from June 4. The order will cease to have any force unless approved by Parliament within 40 days.

Rogers vents his anger

"Not fit to hold office..."

Mr Rogers said that politicians had an "over-riding duty to ensure that inflammatory words do not spur on their wildest supporters to attacks on police officers or people's homes."

He said that if they could not hold their tongues, then they were not fit to hold office.