More than 60 paramilitary fighters sought in connection with terrorism-related crimes committed before 1998 could benefit from the Northern Ireland Offences Bill, which is being debated in the House of Commons today.

Under the legislation, dozens of terrorism suspects, mostly republicans, would be free to return to Northern Ireland, where, if convicted, they would be given a criminal record and freed on a licence.

Neither the Northern Ireland Office, the Irish Government nor Sinn Fein will give a precise estimate of how many fugitives could be offered an effective pardon for their crimes. Neither will they confirm the names of the "on the runs" or OTRs who would be eligible to return under the plan.

Here are some of the high-profile fugitives who could win an effective pardon:

Liam Averill, the murderer of two Protestants, earned the nickname "Mrs Doubtfire" after he escaped from the Maze prison dressed as a woman during a party for IRA prisoners' children in December 1997. Now 40, he is thought to be living in County Donegal.

Evelyn Glenholmes was wanted by Scotland Yard for her part in five IRA bombings and three murders, including the Harrods bombing that killed six people. In 1986, she was arrested in Dublin but allowed to go free by a judge because her name was spelled without an "s" on the arrest warrant.

Rita O'Hare, 61, is Sinn Fein's leading lobbyist and representative in America. Ms O'Hare has not been able to return to Belfast since she jumped bail in 1975 after being arrested for allegedly luring British soldiers into a republican ambush.

Charles Caulfield, 46, was named by the Unionist MP Roy Beggs as the mastermind behind the 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Sunday bomb, which killed 11 people and wounded 63. Caulfield was the alleged commander of the IRA's brigade in County Fermanagh and lives openly in the Republic of Ireland.

Owen Carron, 52, the election agent for Bobby Sands, the hunger striker, was the Sinn Fein MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone when he was arrested in 1986 after an AK-47 machine gun was allegedly found in the car he was travelling. He jumped bail and fled over the border.

Robert "Fats" Campbell is suspected of firing the M60 machine gun that killed SAS Captain Herbert Westmacott in a botched raid on a house in North Belfast in 1980. Along with three other IRA men, Campbell was found guilty of murder before breaking out of Belfast's Crumlin Road jail the day before he was due to receive his sentence. He is believed to be living in the south.

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