The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, has written to the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, informing him that she will not be acceding to requests for a full public inquiry into the murder of Billy Wright.
Mr Trimble, who has had recent meetings with Mr Wright's father, David, had written to Dr Mowlam voicing concerns about the circumstances of Billy Wright's death in the Maze Prison in December 1997.
"Mr Trimble's office informed me of Mo Mowlam's decision yesterday," Mr David Wright said. "It's no more than I expected. There is throughout the British government a reluctance to make the truth known on my son's assassination.