Those murdered were all victims of the UVF
Nuala O'Loan's report said UVF members in the area committed murders and other serious crimes while working as informers for Special Branch.
It said two retired assistant chief constables refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Special Branch officers gave the killers immunity, it said.
I am convinced that at least one prosecution will arise out of today's report
Peter Hain
Northern Ireland secretary
What is collusion?
The Special Branch officers "created false notes" and blocked searches for UVF weapons.
They also paid almost £80,000 to leading loyalist Mark Haddock, jailed for 10 years last November for an attack on a nightclub doorman.
Responding to the report, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde offered an apology to the victims' families.
As a consequence of the practices of Special Branch, the position of the UVF, particularly in north Belfast and Newtownabbey was consolidated and strengthened over the years
Nuala O'Loan
Police Ombudsman
Report: Analysis
He said the report made "shocking, disturbing and uncomfortable reading".
NI Secretary Peter Hain said: "I am convinced that at least one prosecution will arise out of today's report."
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said republicans would "not be surprised or shocked by the revelations".
"We think that it's an incentive that the mechanisms which were put in place for accountability, which we put in place and which we have argued for, now need to be deployed, not only to make sure that this does not happen (again), but if it does, that those guilty will be dealt with properly," he said.
POLICE COLLUSION REPORT
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The report, published on Monday, called for a number of murder investigations to be re-opened.
But it is unlikely that any of the police officers involved will be prosecuted - the ombudsman said that evidence was deliberately destroyed to ensure there could not be prosecutions.
Nuala O'Loan said investigation was a lengthy task.
"What emerged during our inquiries was that all of the informants at the centre of this investigation were members of the UVF," she said.
"There was no effective strategic management of these informants. As a consequence of the practices of Special Branch, the position of the UVF, particularly in north Belfast and Newtownabbey was consolidated and strengthened over the years. How could this happen?"
CRIMES LINKED TO INFORMANTS The murders of 10 people 10 attempted murders 10 "punishment" shootings 13 "punishment" attacks A bomb attack in Monaghan 17 instances of drug dealing Additional criminality, including criminal damage, extortion and intimidation
Mrs O'Loan said former Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan was interviewed by her office, but was unable to assist the investigation.
The report said: "Others, including some serving officers, gave evasive, contradictory, and on occasion farcical answers to questions.
"On occasion those answers indicated either a significant failure to understand the law, or contempt for the law."
The ombudsman's investigation began more than three years ago when Belfast welder Raymond McCord claimed that his son, also called Raymond, had been killed by a police informer.
The former RAF man, 22, was a member of the UVF who had some involvement in drugs.
In 1977, he was beaten to death and his body dumped in a quarry.
Sharon McKenna was murdered in 1992
Mr McCord has said he wants those who murdered his son to be put in prison.
He said he had received a death threat at the weekend from the UVF.
Among the investigations which could be re-opened are the murder in north Belfast in 1992 of 27-year-old taxi driver Sharon McKenna, who was shot at the home of an elderly friend.
The names of the police officers and the informers have not been made public.
However, it is known that the main informer at the centre of the investigation is Mark Haddock, who was named in the Irish parliament 15 months ago as a UVF killer.
RUC chiefs 1980 - 2001 1980: Sir John Hermon 1989: Sir Hugh Annesley 1996: Sir Ronnie Flanagan 2001: Police Service of Northern Ireland launched
Some of the Special Branch officers criticised in the report have rejected the ombudsman's allegations as "unfounded and incapable of substantiation".
In a statement, the Northern Ireland Retired Police Officers' Association said they had always acted in the best interests of the pursuit of justice and had nothing to be ashamed of.
The officers also challenged the ombudsman to disclose the details of any evidence of their criminal behaviour discovered during her investigation.
Badge of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin's support of the PSNI is considered crucial to getting devolution working again.Sinn Féin, the Irish political party widely regarded as the political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, has voted to accept the Police Service of Northern Ireland at an ''ard fheis'' (party conference) held in Dublin. 982 party members voted on the motion at the conference, where over 2,500 people were in attendance. 

Surprisingly, over 90% voted in support of the motion after leadership forced a vote to cut short a six hour debate. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called the decision was truly historic, saying, "Today you have created the potential to change the political landscape on this island forever."

The vote is historic due to the fact that Irish republicans viewed the police and the legal system in Northern Ireland as a unit of British rule since the partition of Ireland in 1921. In fact, from the start of the troubles to the ceasefire in the late 1990s, the Provisional IRA had fought the PSNI's predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Last Monday, a report released by Nuala O'Loan, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland confirmed collusion between the RUC and the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force.

He also he was also willing to meet with dissident Irish republicans such as the Continuity IRA and it's political wing, Republican Sinn Féin; and also the Real IRA, who was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing, saying " However, Adams also claimed at a rally on Friday, he felt, "In my opinion, there is only one IRA, and that's the one which fought the British for a very long time." 

However, the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Féin rejected Adams' offer. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, the Republican Sinn Féin president said, "Ultimately, it is the British government which will recruit, it is the British government which will train, motivate, and above all who will pay and give the orders to such a police force."

A statement from Downing Street said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the "historic decision and recognised the leadership it has taken to get to this point". Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern called the vote a "landmark decision," and that it "has opened the way to Northern Ireland power-sharing."

Blair and Ahern will meet at Downing Street tomorrow.

Sinn Féin's support of policing was one of the obstacles to the devolution process, the other is Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party commitment to power-sharing. The acceptance of the police is what Blair and Ahern believe is crucial to persuade the DUP into setting up a new government.

Ian Paisley said his stand "forced Sinn Féin to recognize support for the police and the rule of law as an issue of paramount importance for which there can be no other way" and that "Sinn Féin must now walk this road, the time for true, visible and open support for the police and law enforcement has arrived."

Some Democratic Unionists believe that Sinn Féin had only made a commitment in words only and that people in Sinn Féin power bases would not report crimes. 

Peter Hain, Northern Ireland secretary said the vote was a breakthrough. PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde welcomed the decision also.  Professor Sir Desmond Rea, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board hoped to see Sinn Féin join the board. 

Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said it was "a massive step change in the republican psyche."

Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, Mark Durkan said "They now need to sign with no ifs or buts. As Gerry Adams now accepts, nationalist areas need policing."

The transitional assembly at Stormont is due to be dissolved tomorrow in preparation for elections on March 7. However, if the process goes astray and no election occurs, the assembly will be dissolved and remain dissolved indefinitely.

Finally, the Indepdent Monitoring commission is due to release a report on the IRA's commitment to the peace process according to the British and Irish governments.