Stefan Bateman 22 from Lancaster and Ruth Fleming 22 from County Durham were found dead on Wednesday after renting

Stefan Bateman, 22, from Lancaster, and Ruth Fleming, 22, from County Durham, were found dead on Wednesday after renting guns at a shooting range at Mesa, east of Phoenix, Arizona. Police in the United States are investigating a bizarre triple suicide involving three Britons who were former flatmates in Andover, Hampshire. He was credited with expanding the elite Republican Guards and was put in charge of weapons production and procurement.Deadly divorce, page 13. It would also be in keeping with his reputation for violence.Lt Gen Hussein Kamel was both a cousin and son-in-law of the Iraqi leader, who promoted him rapidly during the Iran-Iraq war, to the anger of the professional officer corps. Uday himself may have had a role, given that his television station broke the news both of the divorces and the murders. The official announcement said the two women were "refusing to stay married to men who betrayed the homeland, the trust and the lofty values of their noble families and kinsfolk".It was not clear from the announcement last night which of the kinsfolk were responsible for the murders, which have turned what should have been a propaganda boost for the regime into a political disaster. After six months in exile in Amman he returned, along with his brother Saddam, to Baghdad three days ago apparently believing assurances that his father-in-law would not punish him.Signs that his survival was in doubt came earlier yesterday when it was officially announced in Iraq that Raghad, the daughter of the Iraqi leader, and her sister, Rana, had divorced their husbands.

But then Dingwall staff remembered a story about a skull found on the 14,000-acre estate of Charles Brooke at Mid Fearn, Ardgay.Mr Brooke said he would be delighted for the chief to take the skull, left for years on a shelf in a shed on the estate, back to its rightful owner in South Africa.. PATRICK COCKBURN Lt Gen Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid, Iraq's most important defector and son-in-law of Saddam Hussein, was murdered last night with two of his brothers a few days after he had returned from Jordan believing he would be safe because of an amnesty. Iraqi television quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior saying: "A number of young people from the al-Majid family have killed Hussein Kamel Hassan and his two brothers Saddam and Hakim in an armed confrontation which took place in the house in which Hussein Kamel resided after his return from Jordan."Lt Gen Hussein, one of the Iraqi leader's most trusted lieutenants, fled from Iraq last August because he feared Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, known for his extreme violence, would try to kill him. Only its union with Hintsa's body can end the cycle.Yesterday, his search appeared to be in vain when skulls at the military museum in Fort George, near Inverness, and at the Dingwall Museum, turned out not to be Hintsa's. Chief Gcaleka, resplendent in leopardskin, has been searching Scotland for more than a week, checking military museums and following up military tip-offs as to the location of his great-uncle's skull, hacked off and transported to Scotland after his death.The chief, whose quest is rumoured to have been paid for by the South African President, Nelson Mandela, has argued that Chief Hintsa's headless spirit is wandering South Africa, causing crime and violence.

Chief Nicholas Gcaleka left his native South Africa on a spiritual dream-fuelled quest half way around the world to the chilly fields of the Dornoch Firth in Scotland seeking his prize.When he found it yesterday it was a little battered - in fact it had a bullet-hole in it - but that was all part of the evidence that convinced Chief Gcaleka that this was the skull of his long-dead ancestor, King Hintsa of Xhosa, a tribal leader shot dead by the British in the Cape in 1835. STEVE BOGGAN Chief Reporter Against all expectations, after a journey spanning thousands of miles and 160 years, a bony relic claimed to be the head of an African chief is on its way home. Yesterday oil was beginning to affect wildlife on Lundy Island, 12 miles off north Devon, and a bird-rescue operation was under way.The clean-up round the Pembrokeshire coast was continuing amid hopes that rough weather over the weekend will help disperse the oil slicks.Final moments, page 2. We are sure the pilot was on board a half-hour before the grounding."More than 70,000 tonnes of oil has gushed into the sea and is still being dealt with, in a large-scale clean-up operation.The bill for the damages from the disaster could exceed pounds 80m. There was plenty of water, 16 metres, under her."Captain Peter Cooney, managing director of Acomarit, said: "If the port authority say the pilot was on board 15 minutes before the vessel grounded, this is in conflict with our own information. "The difficulty can be when it takes time getting the pilot on board."There are discrepancies over suggestions that the Sea Empress was rushing to enter Milford Haven in order to avoid low water and thus be forced to wait for the next high tide, almost eight hours later.Michael Hyslop, the general manager of the Port Authority, said: "I'm not aware of any evidence she was rushing. The time to deal with unexpected difficulties would have been less.Captain Mark Andrews, harbour master, said pilots normally boarded in good time to discuss a plan of action with the master, in this case, the Russian captain, Eduard Bolgov."It wouldn't be normal practice to put the pilot on so late," he said.

The last, crucial moments before the 147,000-tonne tanker became stricken off St Ann's Head, near Milford Haven, Britain's busiest mainland oil port, and the subsequent salvage operations to free the grounded vessel, will be the inquiry's main focus.The managers of the vessel, Acomarit, maintain the pilot whose job was to guide the ship into port boarded the vessel at 7.38pm, not 7.53pm, as port officials earlier suggested.There is also speculation that the pilot may have boarded the vessel later than was routine for a tanker of the size of the Sea Empress. They had already found more than 20lb of Semtex explosives and enough equipment for at least six devices.Houses close to 117 George Lane, where the terrorist, Edward O'Brien, 21, lived, were evacuated but residents were allowed back last night. Officers believe the flat was used as a "factory'' to produce the two Semtex devices that were left in London recently.Although there have been a number of bomb scares in Belfast, no actual attacks have followed the London bombings.Welcoming the reappearance of the troops, the Democratic Unionist MP the Rev William McCrea said: "I trust we will see the gloves taken off if they start to shoot and bomb - there must be no pussy-footing around We have to get the nest of vipers.''Ring of steel, page 4. REBECCA FOWLER and JAMES CUSICK A conflicting picture of events leading up to the grounding of the supertanker Sea Empress has been given to the government inspectors investigating the disaster, it emerged yesterday.Accounts given by the company that manages the supertanker and by Milford Haven Port Authority are being examined by the team from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. But with the ending of the IRA ceasefire, more precautions are being taken, for example with the reissue of flak jackets to police officers.Yesterday some troops were to be seen on streets in the Old Park area of north Belfast in joint Army and RUC patrols.

An Army spokesman said they were part of "occasional low-key local security patrols to protect bases", describing them as "purely a prudent security move to ensure security".Military sources said there would be patrols around security bases, but widespread patrolling and the mounting of vehicle checkpoints were not planned.In London last night, a new haul of bomb-making equipment was found buried in the garden at the London home of the IRA terrorist who died in the Aldwych blast last Sunday.Anti-terrorist officers, who have been searching a flat in a house in Lewisham, south-east London, since they raided it on Monday morning, recovered a "substantial'' amount of items, including several explosive timers. The pattern of RUC policing had also taken on a more relaxed character. DAVID McKITTRICK Ireland Correspondent British troops reappeared on the streets of Belfast yesterday in what was described as a precautionary measure after the ending of the IRA ceasefire.Although only a small number were involved, the move was seen as both ominous and symbolically highly charged, suggesting that security forces anticipate a renewal of IRA activity in the city.Military operations were progressively wound down in the months that followed the August 1994 cessation of IRA violence, to the point where the sight of troops on the streets had become a rarity. Mr Thurnham was prepared to listen to Mr Major's suggestion of an inquiry into the method of choosing Conservative candidates in an effort to meet one of the MP's grievances, but Mrs Thurnham urged her husband to ignore such blandishments in the light of Mr Major's attitude to Scott.A welcome chink of light emerged for the Government when the three Democratic Ulster Unionist MPs declared they would abstain on Monday's crunch vote on Sir Richard's report, boosting the chances of the parliamentary arithmetic working in ministers' favour.The outcome of the vote will now depend heavily on the nine Ulster Unionists who have yet to officially declare their voting intentions.Government victory would help take the sting out of repeated Opposition demands for the resignations of William Waldegrave, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Sir Nicholas, following strong criticisms in Sir Richard's report.Sir Thomas, the Master of the Rolls, said in a BBC interview: "It was not the minister's function to judge whether the document should be disclosed or not if it was a document disclosure of which would, in the opinion of the minister, damage the public interest."But for the second time in two days Sir Richard moved to defend his report, complaining to the BBC that his views on immunity in criminal trials had not been accurately reflected in the interview.Labour immediately took issue with Sir Thomas's statement, pointing to a section of the report which it insisted showed that Michael Heseltine, the then President of the Board of Trade, did not believe disclosure would be injurious.Mr Major was forced to dismiss predictions that the general election would be brought forward to this October, saying: "I have always expected to go through to the spring of 1997 and I still expect to go through to the spring of 1997."The insistence came as Brian Mawhinney, the party chairman, announced that five more Central Office press office staff had been engaged in preparation for the election.Scott sell-out, page 2. I don't quite know what happened after I finished my meeting."Mr Major's reaction to the Scott report was the clinching factor in a decision taken jointly by Mr and Mrs Thurnham and one of their daughters, Sophie. If we're dissatisfied then in my judgement the job of an MP is to express that dismay."He added: "Quite a lot of MPs share my dismay and we will vote accordingly on Monday."The Prime Minister sought to put on a brave face on Mr Thurnham's departure, saying: "I am surprised to be honest. I had a lengthy conversation with Peter and Sarah [Thurnham] last evening and we have a very friendly conversation .. and we were going to meet again next week.