Image caption Widow Jean McConville left behind 10 children when she was abducted and murdered

A former IRA leader has been charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Jean McConville.

The Belfast mother-of-10 was taken by the IRA from her flat in December 1972.

Ivor Bell, 77, who was a senior leader in the Provisional IRA in the 1970s, was arrested at his home in Andersonstown on Tuesday.

He has been charged with aiding and abetting murder and membership of the IRA. He is expected to appear in court on Saturday.

Image copyright other Image caption Ivor Bell is due to appear in court on Saturday

Ivor Bell was part of an IRA delegation that held secret talks with the British government in London in 1972.

Among the delegation were Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

Jean McConville, 37, became known as one of the Disappeared.

She was kidnapped in front of her children and accused of having been an informer. That claim was later dismissed following an official investigation.

She was held at one or more houses before being shot. Her body was recovered on a beach in County Louth in August 2003.

The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.

The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments.

It lists 16 people as "disappeared". Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found.