The US government has called on the British government to hold an independent public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
The US House of Representatives passed legislation urging Tony Blair to widen the scope of the Inquiries Act.
Mr Finucane was shot dead by loyalists at his north Belfast home in February 1989, with allegations of security force collusion.
Sinn Féin has welcomed the development as an important step, saying it places the British government in the dock.