Why is McGuinness questioning Saville?

Sir Reg Empey Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party has outlined his belief that Martin McGuinness has to explain why he is questioning the Saville Report.

In a statement Sir Reg said:

"Martin McGuinness has some explaining to do, however not exclusively to unionists or the British Government and not exclusively about his activities on Bloody Sunday and the months before - we all know he was a terrorist. Martin McGuinness and Sinn Fein need to explain to the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday and the republican community why they refuse to accept the Saville Report in its entirety?

"In picking and choosing the parts of Saville which they like and discarding those that do not fit in neatly to their republican agenda, Sinn Fein is in fact questioning the legitimacy of the entire report.

"Those families, who stood on the stage at the Guild Hall in Londonderry and believed that Saville and the words of the Prime Minister brought them some closure, will quite understandably be asking why Martin McGuinness and Sinn Fein are prepared to open the entire report to criticism and speculation. They have a right to question the sincerity of the warm handshakes and words from Martin and Gerry on the day, when hours later they were bringing Saville's conclusions into doubt.

"The fact that Saville concluded that the British and Northern Ireland Governments did not have a shoot to kill policy or are responsible in any way for what happened that day, asks serious and deep questions about the stories and myths that generations of republicans have been brought up believeing. The British Government was not the corrupt state that republicans claim and the fact that Saville happened at all proves this. There is no doubt that the IRA was a murderous killing machine that cared little for the communities they claimed to represent.

"I believe Saville should mark the end of our inquiries into the past and a start to a new beginning for our entire community. However, this must be a new start that recognises Northern Ireland is a legitimate and fair place to live; that the people of Northern Ireland have rights but also responsibilities to their democracy and Government. The challenge for Sinn Fein is are they prepared to recognise their rights but also their responsibilities to Northern Ireland - such recognition is the only way we will build a genuinely prosperous and shared future.