London  - A 21-year-old man charged in connection with the murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland earlier this month appeared in court Thursday.

The accused was charged late Wednesday with failing to provide police with facts relating to the shooting on March 9 of Stephen Carroll, a 48-year-old police officer in the town of Craigavon.

He was remanded in custody by the Magistrate's Court in Lisburn, south of Belfast, and will have to appear again on April 17.

Two men, aged 17 and 37, have been charged with murder, but both deny the charges.

The murder of the police officer came two days after two British soldiers were gunned down outside Massereene barracks near Belfast in what marked a return to terrorist violence in Northern Ireland 11 years after the signing of the peace agreement.

The Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, both splinter groups of the now inactive Irish Republican Army (IRA), claimed responsibility for the two attacks.

On Wednesday, the High Court in Belfast ordered the release of six men held in connection with the two shootings, saying their prolonged detention without charge was "unlawful."

However, one of the men, former IRA prisoner Colin Duffy, held over the soldiers' murder, was immediately re-arrested under anti-terrorism laws. (dpa)