Man charged in Northern Ireland over Nairac death

BELFAST (Reuters) - A 57-year-old man has been charged with false imprisonment and kidnapping in connection with the killing of British army officer Robert Nairac in the province in the 1970s, police said.

Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrillas were widely believed to have abducted and executed Nairac in one of the most notorious killings of Northern Ireland's "Troubles".

The IRA has never confirmed it killed him, but said in 1999 they had searched unsuccessfully for his body.

The 57-year-old man, whose arrest in south Armagh was announced on Tuesday, is expected to appear before magistrates in Newry, County Down, on Thursday.

A police spokeswoman said he "was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment".

Nairac, a British army captain who Irish media said worked for the intelligence services, disappeared in 1977. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest civilian award for bravery.

Previously, five people in Northern Ireland and another in the Republic of Ireland have been convicted of involvement in Nairac's killing.

British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 to help quell unrest over civil rights which erupted between the majority Protestant population -- who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom -- and local Catholics, who favor a united Ireland.

More than 3,600 people were killed over the following three decades until violence largely ended with an IRA ceasefire in 1997.

Northern Ireland is hoping to attracting foreign investment after political foes agreed last year to share power in a regional government. That cemented the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

In 2007 the British army ended its role supporting police there in its longest ever military operation.

(Reporting by Anne Cadwallader; Writing by Andras Gergely; Editing by Giles Elgood)