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Tuesday November 6, 2012

Hillary Clinton Condemns Murder Of NI Prison Officer

Mrs Clinton said that there was "no justification for this outrageous and cowardly act."

Three men, including the prominent dissident republican Colin Duffy, were arrested on Friday following the first murder of a serving prison officer in Northern Ireland in almost 20 years.

David Black, who worked at the high-security Maghaberry Prison in Co. Armagh for more than 30 years and was nearing retirement, was ambushed by gunmen on his way to work last week.

The showered his car in bullets as they passed in another car, and Mr Black's vehicle slammed into the ditch and off the road.

His murder was roundly condemned by people from all sides of the political divide and by the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton

"There is no justification for this outrageous and cowardly act," Mrs Clinton said.

"I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of officer Black, who had a long and distinguished record of service.

"The United States remains resolute in support of the people of Northern Ireland, who have condemned violence and embraced the path to peace and reconciliation."

First Minister Peter Robinson,of the DUP, said the dissident Real IRA factions were "flat-earth fanatics, living in the dark ages, spewing out hatred from every pore."

Standing beside him Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, of Sinn Fein, said Mr Black's killers "can't kill the peace process, and we are the proof of that."

Finlay Spratt of the Prison Officer's Association called in people to help the police inquiry.

"I call on the community in the area that those people come from to hand them over and let justice be seen to be done," he said.

"He's a long serving officer. He served this community right down through the Troubles, the hunger strike and everything. This officer did his bit for the community."

The shooting has been linked to a bitter protest inside the jail over the past year involving 40 dissident republicans.

They are objecting to the strip and search policy of prison guards.

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