The mother of a north Belfast teenager shot dead by British soldiers whose regiment is serving in Iraq has questioned the men's suitability to deal with such a tense situation.
Jean McBride's 18-year-old son Peter was shot in the back as he ran from an army patrol in the New Lodge area in September 1992.
Released on licence after serving three years of a life sentence for murder, the two convicted Scots Guards were allowed to rejoin their regiment and have since been seconded to the Irish Guards serving in Basra, Iraq.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence yesterday (Wednesday) said neither Mark Wright nor James Fisher were serving in the Gulf but could not confirm if they had been there at any time since the start of the US-led conflict last month.
Mrs McBride said she feared for the city's civilian population if soldiers Wright and Fisher were serving there.
Her comments came before two people were killed yesterday by US troops who opened fire on an Iraqi crowd protesting against the shooting dead of 13 civilians on Monday.
The soldiers opened fire when some 1,000 residents marching through Fallujah city threw stones at battalion headquarters. US forces later said they had responded to gunfire, a claim denied by eyewitnesses and Iraqi officials.
Mrs McBride said she worried about a repetition of the shooting which claimed her son's life.
