LONDON - The families of the Hillsborough disaster victims last night welcomed the British government's decision to hold a new inquiry into the tragedy which left 96 football fans dead.
The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, said in a House of Commons statement that he had appointed a senior Appeal Court judge, Lord Justice Stuart- Smith, to examine fresh evidence accumulated by the families.
The chairman of the Hillsborough Families' Support Group, Mr Trevor Hicks, bailed the move as an important milestone in the group's quest for a "spoonful of justice. .. This isn't a quest for vengeance. It isn't a witch- hunt," he said after he listened in the public gallery to Mr Straw's announcement.