NORTHERN IRELAND: BRITISH SOLDIER IS SHOT DEAD AT CHECKPOINT

(13 Feb 1997) English/Nat
A British soldier has been shot dead in Northern Ireland.
He was killed by a single shot fired in the village of Bessbrook, in South Armagh, which is on the border with the Republic of Ireland.
He was on duty at the time, manning a checkpoint in the village.
No-one's claimed responsibility, but the shooting has all the hallmarks of an I-R-A attack.
It's the second death since the I-R-A called off its cease-fire almost exactly a year ago.
British soldiers on a heightened state of alert in the Northern Ireland border village of Bessbrook.
This is where a British soldier was shot dead earlier in the evening.
Bessbrook is home to a major British army base.
It's from here helicopters patrol the tense border with the Irish Republic.
No-one's claimed responsibility, but it has all the hallmarks of an I-R-A attack.
It's the second death since they called off their cease-fire almost exactly one year ago.
The M-P for the area is deputy leader of the S-D-L-P -- a Nationalist party.
Seamus Mallon says he's horrified by the shooting.
Support for the killers would only lead to more suffering, he warned.
SOUNDBITE:
"Horrified that another human being has lost his life in the north of Ireland and especially that he has lost it in my constituency of County Armagh, I think it was a calculated, premeditated murder of a person going about his work, another lady almost was killed and there can be no ifs or buts about this incident, it was a deliberate attempt to take the life of a soldier here, that man was killed and those who did it and those who organised it and those who give it any support or credence should know that what they are doing is driving this entire community to the brink of more, and more, and more suffering."
SUPER CAPTION: Seamus Mallon, Deputy Leader, SDLP
There was similar condemnation from a local Ulster Unionist -- or pro-British -- councillor.
SOUNDBITE:
"I think it's absolutely despicable, deplorable and I think that it is clear evidence that the IRA are entirely serious about their campaign of war and for those who thought there was s pretend war, or some kind of unreal situation have been proved tragically wrong tonight."
SUPER CAPTION: Danny Kennedy, Ulster Unionist Councillor for Bessbrook
The I-R-A has either bombed or tried to bomb British targets every week this year, to press its demand that its political wing Sinn Fein be invited to peace talks without preconditions.
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