Ex-soldier arrested over Londonderry shootings

British police arrested a former soldier Tuesday on suspicion of murdering three people on Bloody Sunday in 1972, one of the most notorious incidents of Northern Ireland's troubled past.

It was the first arrest since a murder investigation was opened in 2012 into the killings of 13 Catholic civil rights protesters on the streets of Londonderry that day, and another victim who died months later of his injuries.

A police source said the man, an ex-soldier, was being questioned by detectives investigating the murders of William Nash, 19, John Young, 17, and Michael McDaid, 20, who were shot and killed at a rubble barricade.

"Detectives from Legacy Investigation Branch investigating the events of Bloody Sunday have arrested a 66-year-old man in County Antrim," police in Northern Ireland said in a statement.

They added that the arrest marked "a new phase in the overall investigation which would continue for some time".

The defence ministry said it was "aware an ex-soldier has been arrested".

Political party Sinn Fein, formerly the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, welcomed the arrest of the man, whose identity has not been released.

Bloody Sunday helped bolster support for the IRA during 30 years of unrest in Northern Ireland, a period known as The Troubles, in which around 3,500 people died.

"This is another step forward in the long campaign for justice by the Bloody Sunday families," said Raymond McCartney, a Sinn Fein politician and former member of the IRA.

The IRA waged a campaign of violence to drive Britain out of Northern Ireland until the unrest largely ended with a 1998 peace deal. But sporadic bomb and other attacks have continued, which police have blamed on paramilitary groups.

Caption: Thousands of people gathered in Derry in 2010 to watch Prime Minister David Cameron apologise for the Army's actions on Bloody Sunday

Photo: BBC