POLICE ROLE UNDER QUESTION
Police role under question
By Mary Fitzgerald
THE leaked Police Ombudsman's report which says the RUC had advance information about the attack on Omagh has provoked strong reaction from across the political divide. Reacting to the damning leak, SDLP MLA and member of the Policing Board Joe Byrne urged caution and said the full report needed to be seen before a definitive judgment could be made.
He said: "It appears that there are extremely serious questions about the role of the RUC and Special Branch in particular as to what they knew prior to the Omagh bomb and how they communicated and acted before the bombing and after.
"These matters if confirmed should lead to further steps being taken by the Police Board of Northern Ireland and by other relevant agencies to ensure that no element within policing in Northern Ireland can act in a way that is not accountable, or is not consistent win best practice."
Pat Doherty, Sinn Fein MP for the Omagh area, called for Special Branch to be disbanded in the wake of the revelations. He added: "Those who failed to act on this information from the Chief Constable down should now be removed from the policing structures immediately."
DUP Assembly member and member of the Policing Board Sammy Wilson accused the Ombudsman of using the Omagh tragedy to pursue an anti-police agenda. Sinn Fein MLA and Omagh District Council chairman Barry McElduff called for full disclosure of all information of the RUC and British Military Intelligence in the weeks preceding the Omagh bombing.
By Mary Fitzgerald
THE leaked Police Ombudsman's report which says the RUC had advance information about the attack on Omagh has provoked strong reaction from across the political divide. Reacting to the damning leak, SDLP MLA and member of the Policing Board Joe Byrne urged caution and said the full report needed to be seen before a definitive judgment could be made.
He said: "It appears that there are extremely serious questions about the role of the RUC and Special Branch in particular as to what they knew prior to the Omagh bomb and how they communicated and acted before the bombing and after.
"These matters if confirmed should lead to further steps being taken by the Police Board of Northern Ireland and by other relevant agencies to ensure that no element within policing in Northern Ireland can act in a way that is not accountable, or is not consistent win best practice."
Pat Doherty, Sinn Fein MP for the Omagh area, called for Special Branch to be disbanded in the wake of the revelations. He added: "Those who failed to act on this information from the Chief Constable down should now be removed from the policing structures immediately."
DUP Assembly member and member of the Policing Board Sammy Wilson accused the Ombudsman of using the Omagh tragedy to pursue an anti-police agenda. Sinn Fein MLA and Omagh District Council chairman Barry McElduff called for full disclosure of all information of the RUC and British Military Intelligence in the weeks preceding the Omagh bombing.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0789
Published Date: 07-Dec-01
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.