Former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath today described suggestions that his government planned the events of Bloody Sunday when paratroopers shot dead 13 men as "absurd".
He also defended the Widgery inquiry into Bloody Sunday but also conceded that a ministerial meeting had been told that anyone interfering with the army's work could be "shot as enemies of the Queen".
Sir Edward, appearing before the Saville Tribunal inquiring into the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in 1972, immediately sought to dispel the belief that the killings were part of a high-level conspiracy.
"The tragic deaths in Londonderry on 30 January 1972 outraged the Catholic community, increased support for the IRA and destroyed the prospect of a political initiative," he said in his inquiry statement.
"It is therefore absurd to suggest that Her Majesty's Government intended or was prepared to risk the events which occurred."
Bereaved families watched closely as Sir Edward launched a staunch defence of the original public inquiry chaired by Lord Widgery, which found no wrong-doing by members of 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment who shot dead 13 civilians during the 1972 civil rights march.
The Widgery report is now largely discredited with many people believing the paras were deployed to teach Catholics a lesson about who really controlled the nationalist Bogside no-go area which had become a power base of IRA support.
The paras say they opened fire after coming under attacks as they tried to arrest rioters.
Sir Edward said: "The general view of Her Majesty's Government was that the 'no-go' areas would have, in due course, to be retrieved, but there was no plan as at the end of January 1972 for that to happen.
"The operation was seen as very much one of containment, with no intention of actively seeking to use this march as an opportunity to retrieve any part of the 'no-go' areas."
Sir Edward stated he was "not aware" that 1 Para were to be deployed to arrest rioters that day - a direct denial of claims the operation had Downing Street approval.
He recalled that Lord Hailsham, then the Lord Chancellor, had told a ministerial meeting that anyone obstructing the army could be shot as enemies of the Queen.
"I did not take his comment seriously," Sir Edward said, "nor, so far as I am aware did anyone else."
PA