Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has agreed to meet the father of
murdered LVF leader, Billy Wright to discuss the prison killing of the Portadown loyalist.
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Billy Wright
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In a letter to Mr David Wright, Dr Reid said he was happy to meet with him to hear directly his concerns about the INLA murder of the loyalist leader inside the Maze prison a few days after Christmas 1997.
Mr David Wright described Dr Reid's decision to meet with him as "significant" in his continuing fight to discover the truth about events leading up to the murder of his son.
"For over three years I have pressed respective secretaries of state for a meeting'', said Mr Wright. "Mo Mowlam and Peter Mandelson treated me with utter contempt by refusing even to consider such a meeting", he added.
Mr Wright is alleging that the murder was, "state-sponsored, state- orchestrated and state sanctioned''. He also described the RUC investigation into the killing as totally inept. Mr Wright refused to elaborate on the actual date of his meeting with Dr Reid.
News of the meeting comes on the eve of a hearing at the High Court in Belfast, in which Mr Wright has applied for a judicial review of a decision made by the Coroner for Greater Belfast, Mr John Leckey.
Mr Wright is challenging the Coroner's decision not to allow him access to the statements/depositions of two individuals, listed but not called to give evidence during the 1999 inquest into Billy Wright's murder.