PRESSURE GROWS ON MI5 OVER THE OMAGH OUTRAGE
Pressure grows on MI5 over the Omagh outrage
Donaldson's concerns echoed by Republic
PRESSURE is mounting on the British and Irish governments to hold an inquiry into the Omagh bomb atrocity after it emerged MI5 withheld vital anti-terrorism intelligence just months before the attack.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said he had concerns about the handling of intelligence before the 1998 attack after it was revealed MI5 kept police in Northern Ireland in the dark about the bomb plot months before it took place.
A total of 29 people and unborn twins were killed in the Real IRA attack in August 1998.
Mr Donaldson's concerns were echoed by the two leading opposition parties in the Republic, who have called for a cross-border inquiry into the Omagh bombing following the revelations.
The MI5 agency received a tip-off that dissident republicans were targeting Omagh or Londonderry for a major bomb attack and used it to help thwart a bomb plot at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.
But MI5 kept the police in Northern Ireland in the dark, according to authoritative security sources, and failed to pass on the information even after outrage at the Omagh bombing, which occurred just five months later.
The Irish Labour Party and Fine Gael said it was time to listen to the relatives of the Omagh bombing, who have been campaigning for years to get the truth.
"The revelations merely underline the legitimacy of their calls for a full, independent, cross-border inquiry," said Labour's Justice spokesman" Joe Costello, TD.
He said the way MI5 handled information in the lead-up to Omagh suggested people could have little confidence in their ability to prevent major atrocities.
"Of course, this does not shift the blame away from those cowards who planted the bomb that caused the deaths of 29 people. Hopefully, in time, all those responsible will be brought to justice.
"But it does ask questions about how intelligence was used and whether or not many of those lives could have been saved had information been shared, properly processed, and the warning signals acted upon," he said.
MI5 received the tip-off from American FBI agent David Rupert, who was working undercover in the ranks of the Real IRA. He warned that Omagh or Derry - but most likely Omagh - was to be hit by a dissident republican unit based in Fermanagh and the Letterkenny area of neighbouring Co Donegal.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: "Allowing MI5 to have a lead role in intelligence in Northern Ireland would be like appointing Herod as children's commissioner."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan (21), was among those killed, said: "At best, this is criminal negligence. At worst, it's assisting a terrorist murder plot."
Three dissident republicans were arrested and later released without charge at the time of the foiled April 1998 bomb plot.
At the time, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was aware that a planned terrorist operation had been disrupted but, according to security sources yesterday, police found no trace on their records of any MI5 intelligence that Omagh or Derry, was going to be a target.
Fine Gael Justice spokesman Jim O'Keefe said the failure by MI5 to pass on the information reinforced the need for a cross-border inquiry into the Omagh bombing.
"I'm very surprised and disappointed to learn the situation could possibly have led to the prevention of this appalling murder," he said.
Donaldson's concerns echoed by Republic
PRESSURE is mounting on the British and Irish governments to hold an inquiry into the Omagh bomb atrocity after it emerged MI5 withheld vital anti-terrorism intelligence just months before the attack.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said he had concerns about the handling of intelligence before the 1998 attack after it was revealed MI5 kept police in Northern Ireland in the dark about the bomb plot months before it took place.
A total of 29 people and unborn twins were killed in the Real IRA attack in August 1998.
Mr Donaldson's concerns were echoed by the two leading opposition parties in the Republic, who have called for a cross-border inquiry into the Omagh bombing following the revelations.
The MI5 agency received a tip-off that dissident republicans were targeting Omagh or Londonderry for a major bomb attack and used it to help thwart a bomb plot at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.
But MI5 kept the police in Northern Ireland in the dark, according to authoritative security sources, and failed to pass on the information even after outrage at the Omagh bombing, which occurred just five months later.
The Irish Labour Party and Fine Gael said it was time to listen to the relatives of the Omagh bombing, who have been campaigning for years to get the truth.
"The revelations merely underline the legitimacy of their calls for a full, independent, cross-border inquiry," said Labour's Justice spokesman" Joe Costello, TD.
He said the way MI5 handled information in the lead-up to Omagh suggested people could have little confidence in their ability to prevent major atrocities.
"Of course, this does not shift the blame away from those cowards who planted the bomb that caused the deaths of 29 people. Hopefully, in time, all those responsible will be brought to justice.
"But it does ask questions about how intelligence was used and whether or not many of those lives could have been saved had information been shared, properly processed, and the warning signals acted upon," he said.
MI5 received the tip-off from American FBI agent David Rupert, who was working undercover in the ranks of the Real IRA. He warned that Omagh or Derry - but most likely Omagh - was to be hit by a dissident republican unit based in Fermanagh and the Letterkenny area of neighbouring Co Donegal.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: "Allowing MI5 to have a lead role in intelligence in Northern Ireland would be like appointing Herod as children's commissioner."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan (21), was among those killed, said: "At best, this is criminal negligence. At worst, it's assisting a terrorist murder plot."
Three dissident republicans were arrested and later released without charge at the time of the foiled April 1998 bomb plot.
At the time, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was aware that a planned terrorist operation had been disrupted but, according to security sources yesterday, police found no trace on their records of any MI5 intelligence that Omagh or Derry, was going to be a target.
Fine Gael Justice spokesman Jim O'Keefe said the failure by MI5 to pass on the information reinforced the need for a cross-border inquiry into the Omagh bombing.
"I'm very surprised and disappointed to learn the situation could possibly have led to the prevention of this appalling murder," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0996
Published Date: 25-Feb-06
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