British Prime Minister David Cameron has apologized on behalf of the British government for the 'Bloody Sunday' massacre in Northern Ireland in 1972 that left 14 civilian protesters dead at the hands of British troops.

Cameron presented the results of a massive 12-year inquiry into the incident to parliament on Tuesday, saying that the events of Bloody Sunday were in no way justified.

"What happened should never, ever, have happened," Cameron said. "Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly."

Initial reports made in 1972 showed that British troops had acted appropriately when they fired on Catholic civilians in Londonderry. At the time, the troops indicated that they had fired on civilians who were armed.

However, Cameron said that this was not the case and added that some troops had deliberately made false statements about the shootings to make it appear that they had been justified in firing.

The report concludes that the British troops fired first and were unprovoked.

"The government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces. And for that, on behalf of the government, indeed on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry," Cameron said.

Author: Matt Zuvela (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Michael Lawton