O'LOAN PROBES OMAGH BOMB WARNING
O'Loan probes Omagh bomb warning
By Deric Henderson
PART of the Omagh bomb inquiry is to be investigated by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, it has been revealed.
Her office is to probe the circumstances surrounding an anonymous telephone call which warned of an attack to take place in the Tyrone town.
The Ombudsman will be seeking details after it emerged that a former Special Branch officer is to be interviewed by detectives attempting to establish the source of the call.
The warning was made to police on August 4, 1998, 11 days before the bombing, but the information was never passed on to officers on the ground.
Relatives of some of the 29 people killed, which included a mother pregnant with twins, had urged the Ombudsman to carry out her own investigation into the phone call.
Four years ago she issued a report on the Royal Ulster Constabulary investigation, claiming the leadership and judgment of the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan was seriously flawed, an allegation he rejected.
The Special Branch officer has already been questioned as part of an investigation unrelated to the Omagh inquiry, but it is not known if he has yet been interviewed to trace the source of the call.
A male caller contacted the CID office in Omagh at 10am on August 4, 1998, and spoke to a detective constable.
He claimed two men would be bringing across the border four dismantled AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers belonging to the Continuity IRA which he said, would be used in an attack on police in Omagh on August 15.
At the time, the CID officer believed the caller to be genuine, briefed a senior detective and travelled to Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, where he informed Special Branch officers.
They allegedly told him there was nothing in the information, but one of the officers asked to be present in Omagh Special Branch office the next day for a second call, which never came.
It was not until two years later, during a review of the inquiry by the RUC, that officers in Omagh became aware of the August 4 call.
By Deric Henderson
PART of the Omagh bomb inquiry is to be investigated by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, it has been revealed.
Her office is to probe the circumstances surrounding an anonymous telephone call which warned of an attack to take place in the Tyrone town.
The Ombudsman will be seeking details after it emerged that a former Special Branch officer is to be interviewed by detectives attempting to establish the source of the call.
The warning was made to police on August 4, 1998, 11 days before the bombing, but the information was never passed on to officers on the ground.
Relatives of some of the 29 people killed, which included a mother pregnant with twins, had urged the Ombudsman to carry out her own investigation into the phone call.
Four years ago she issued a report on the Royal Ulster Constabulary investigation, claiming the leadership and judgment of the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan was seriously flawed, an allegation he rejected.
The Special Branch officer has already been questioned as part of an investigation unrelated to the Omagh inquiry, but it is not known if he has yet been interviewed to trace the source of the call.
A male caller contacted the CID office in Omagh at 10am on August 4, 1998, and spoke to a detective constable.
He claimed two men would be bringing across the border four dismantled AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers belonging to the Continuity IRA which he said, would be used in an attack on police in Omagh on August 15.
At the time, the CID officer believed the caller to be genuine, briefed a senior detective and travelled to Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, where he informed Special Branch officers.
They allegedly told him there was nothing in the information, but one of the officers asked to be present in Omagh Special Branch office the next day for a second call, which never came.
It was not until two years later, during a review of the inquiry by the RUC, that officers in Omagh became aware of the August 4 call.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0952
Published Date: 14-Jan-05
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.