The IRA captured, interrogated, then killed an off-duty soldier Saturday, the first IRA killing since its political ally, Sinn Fein, gave a guarded welcome to British moves toward peace.
Police said Reginald McCollum, a 19-year-old private from Northern Ireland, was found dead in a field in Armagh, 35 miles southwest of Belfast.McCollum, who was out Friday night with friends, was last seen early Saturday morning at a fish-and-chips shop. Reports said he was interrogated by the Irish Republican Army gunmen before they shot and killed him.
The IRA claimed responsibility for the killing in a phone call to a Belfast news organization.
The soldier's 25-year-old brother Nigel was killed last year by the IRA.
On Thursday, Britain issued the first ever public document from British ministers to the Sinn Fein leadership.
The substantive point-by-point reply to Sinn Fein questions about Britain's Northern Ireland position gave little ground. But the reply, drafted in consultation with the Irish government, was considered a symbolic concession that makes it harder for the IRA to say that the Dec. 15 Irish-British peace initiative remains unclear and contradictory.