OMAGH:POLICE HAD OTHER TIP-OFFS
Omagh: police had other tip-offs
By David Gordon
POLICE Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan knew about two additional terror attack warnings received by police before the Omagh bombing and chose not to mention them in her report on the blast inquiry, it was learned today. Channel Four News last night claimed that the two additional tip-offs were received in the days preceding the blast � on top of the two warnings which were featured in Mrs O'Loan's report.
It's understood the warnings about dissident republican activities cited by the news programme did not relate specifically to Omagh.
And the Ombudsman does not appear to have viewed them as significant enough to warrant specific reference in her damning assessment of RUC actions before and after the August 1998 blast. Channel Four said Omagh CID had received information that dissidents were planning an operation, and that they also had incendiary devices for use against commercial targets. A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's office today said: "The two alleged warnings highlighted by Channel Four last night were contained in the police's internal review of the Omagh murder investigation. "As such, they would have been seen by the Ombudsman and taken into consideration in her report."
In its response to Mrs O'Loan's document, the PSNI said in July and August alone that year, the force handled 2,375 intelligence reports on possible terrorist and related activity.
The Ombudsman's report focused on two advance warnings � information from an informer who uses the pseudonym Kevin Fulton that a prominent dissident republican was mixing explosives; and an anonymous telephone tip-off about a planned gun and rocket attack on police in
Omagh on August 15, the day of the bomb attack which killed 29 people.
The information from Fulton did not mention Omagh as a location for a bomb attack.
Details of the telephone tip-off were passed on to Special Branch but were not relayed to Omagh's police commander.
The PSNI has made no comment on the Channel Four claims, other than to stress its determination to catch the Omagh bombers. A new management team is in charge of the investigation.
Relatives of people killed at Omagh have voiced concerns at Channel Four's claims.
By David Gordon
POLICE Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan knew about two additional terror attack warnings received by police before the Omagh bombing and chose not to mention them in her report on the blast inquiry, it was learned today. Channel Four News last night claimed that the two additional tip-offs were received in the days preceding the blast � on top of the two warnings which were featured in Mrs O'Loan's report.
It's understood the warnings about dissident republican activities cited by the news programme did not relate specifically to Omagh.
And the Ombudsman does not appear to have viewed them as significant enough to warrant specific reference in her damning assessment of RUC actions before and after the August 1998 blast. Channel Four said Omagh CID had received information that dissidents were planning an operation, and that they also had incendiary devices for use against commercial targets. A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's office today said: "The two alleged warnings highlighted by Channel Four last night were contained in the police's internal review of the Omagh murder investigation. "As such, they would have been seen by the Ombudsman and taken into consideration in her report."
In its response to Mrs O'Loan's document, the PSNI said in July and August alone that year, the force handled 2,375 intelligence reports on possible terrorist and related activity.
The Ombudsman's report focused on two advance warnings � information from an informer who uses the pseudonym Kevin Fulton that a prominent dissident republican was mixing explosives; and an anonymous telephone tip-off about a planned gun and rocket attack on police in
Omagh on August 15, the day of the bomb attack which killed 29 people.
The information from Fulton did not mention Omagh as a location for a bomb attack.
Details of the telephone tip-off were passed on to Special Branch but were not relayed to Omagh's police commander.
The PSNI has made no comment on the Channel Four claims, other than to stress its determination to catch the Omagh bombers. A new management team is in charge of the investigation.
Relatives of people killed at Omagh have voiced concerns at Channel Four's claims.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0878
Published Date: 29-Oct-02
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