'Bloody Sunday' soldier arrested in Northern Ireland

A former soldier suspected of being connected with the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings in Northern Ireland that left 14 unarmed civil rights protesters dead was arrested Tuesday, police said.

In a brief statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the unidentified man, 66, was arrested in County Antrim and was being interviewed at a police station in Belfast.

Ian Harrison, chief detective of the police service, said the "arrest marked a new phase in the overall investigation which would continue for some time."

The incident on Jan. 30, 1972, in Londonderry is widely regarded as one of the worst, and most controversial, atrocities in more than three decades of violence and unrest in Northern Ireland.

A report commissioned by the British government concluded that British Army soldiers fired on civilian demonstrators without giving any warning and that some of those killed were attempting to flee the scene or help others who had been injured.

The marchers were predominantly from Northern Ireland's Catholic community. They were protesting the imprisonment of alleged Irish nationalists by the British government.

Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that Britain was to blame for the killings, following the publication of the report in 2010. At the time, Cameron described the incident as "unjustified and unjustifiable."

A murder investigation was opened three years ago. Tuesday's arrest was the first since the probe began.

The British government's Northern Ireland office said in a statement Tuesday that "the overwhelming majority (of soldiers) carried out their duties (in Northern Ireland) with courage, professionalism and integrity."

"This government will never forget the debt of gratitude we owe them,” it said.

Last month, a separate report on Northern Ireland's "Troubles" concluded that paramilitary activity there still existed but in a "much reduced form" that posed little threat to peace.