Funeral killer freed from Northern Ireland jail

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Michael Stone, one of Northern Ireland's most ruthless guerrillas, was freed early from prison on Monday under an accord intended to cement the British province's uneasy peace process.

Stone, a 45-year-old Protestant jailed for a gun and grenade attack on mourners at an Irish Republican Army funeral in 1988, walked free after serving 11 years of a 30-year term for the Milltown Cemetery murders and other crimes.

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Three Catholics were killed and scores of mourners injured in the attack. Horrific television footage of the event became one of the most enduring images of the long-running sectarian conflict and made Stone an icon among anti-Catholic loyalists.

In 1989, he was also convicted of three other murders.

Dressed in a crisply ironed black shirt, black trousers and black boots, Stone walked out through the turnstile of the top-security Maze prison to cheers from around 50 supporters.

He is one of about 80 guerrillas who will be freed this week, virtually emptying the notorious prison near Belfast that has housed the most hardened Catholic and Protestant guerrillas over the years.

Stone, the latest of 340 prisoners to walk free under a controversial early release scheme enshrined in the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, stood grim-faced as a brief statement was read to reporters.

Frankie Gallagher, an official in the prisoners aid group GaeLairn that helps pro-British loyalists resettle after their release, said Stone would not comment until a news conference later in Belfast.

"I'm sure we speak for many thousands of working-class loyalists as well as the broader unionist family in welcoming Michael home to his own community," said Gallagher.

"Michael, with the rest of the loyalists and ex-prisoners, continues to support the present peace process."

Supporters held up a banner of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, a Protestant guerrilla group, as Stone was driven away.

Stone has nine children and three grandchildren. His parents, aged in their 70s, are still alive.

The early jail releases were meant to bring guerrillas who fought for and against British rule into line with the peace process. But they touched a raw nerve with victims' families.

"I feel very bitter because I think people look at him as a hero -- and to me he's a devil," said Sally McErlean, whose son Thomas was one of three Catholics killed at the Milltown Cemetery.

McErlean, her eyes brimming with tears, said she had mixed feelings about the early releases but accepted that they might be necessary to seal lasting peace.

"Isn't that what it's all about -- if it's for peace?" she told Reuters. "But why should we have to pay a price? I think it's very sad that prisoners get out to flaunt themselves in front of children as heroes."

Officials say the Maze prison, which in the mid-1980s was Western Europe's biggest guerrilla jail with 800 prisoners, will soon be closed.

Only about 16 guerrillas will remain in the Maze after this week's clear-out.

Guerrillas can be rearrested if they fall foul of the scheme, which applies only to groups maintaining a cease-fire and whose crimes were committed before the peace deal of April 1998.

Mainstream guerrilla groups, including the IRA, are observing cease-fires, but renegades on both sides have staged sporadic attacks intended to derail the peace process.

Protestant parties in favor of continued British rule over the province and Britain's main opposition Conservative Party have been highly critical of the early release scheme.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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