FRESH INQUIRY CALL OVER NEW OMAGH CLAIMS
Fresh inquiry call over new Omagh claims
BY ASHLEIGH McDONALD
INCREASING pressure for a full public inquiry into the Omagh bombing is mounting after it was claimed mobile phone calls between the bombers were recorded by intelligence agencies.
An investigation by the BBC's Panorama team unearthed allegations that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) monitored calls made between the bombing team on the day the massive device exploded in the Co Tyrone town.
Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died when the 500lb Real IRA bomb ripped through the heart of Omagh on Saturday August 15, 1998.
In the Panorama programme to be screened tonight, an investigation team claim GCHQ - which is responsible for intercepting electronic communications - recorded messages between the bombers both leading up to and on the day of the terrorist atrocity of the Troubles.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year old son Aiden in the blast, said: "It is becoming more difficult for the governments to deny the families a public inquiry, especially when we have such serious revelations as this."
The programme-makers claim GCHQ picked up a coded message between bombers which was used both on the day of the Omagh bomb and two weeks earlier when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of Banbridge.
In both incidents, GCHQ is said to have picked up the words "the bricks are in the wall' which is thought to have meant the bomb was in place and it was time to make a series of telephone warnings.
The intelligence agency is also alleged to have picked up a message saying "we're crossing the line" when the bombers drove over the border near Aughnacloy around an hour-and-a-half before the bomb exploded on Omagh's Lower Market Street.
The startling new allegations have once again shone the spotlight on the police investigation into the handling of the Omagh bomb and the subsequent manhunt.
To date, no-one has been convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing. Last December, south Armagh electrician Sean Hoey (38) was cleared of involvement following a lengthy trial. A civil case brought by the bereaved families against five men they believe were involved in the bombing is currently being held.
In light of the new allegations of recorded phone conversations between the bombers, Panorama presenter John Ware will question whether the atrocity could have been prevented.
The programme quotes well-placed sources as saying GCHQ were monitoring calls at the request of the then RUC Special Branch - which was confirmed by former Assistant Chief Constable Ray White.
One source tells the Panorama team GCHQ sent details of the conversations to Northern Ireland within six hours but this claim has been denied by Mr White who said Special Branch didn't receive the information until three days after the bomb.
Mr White claims Special Branch was expecting GCHQ to be recording 'live' conversations as they happened, meaning if a bombing was under way police would have the intelligence to launch a plan to arrest the bombers.
He also claims that when asked why they didn't pass the information on until the Tuesday after the bomb, someone in GCHQ said "we missed it".
Other detectives told Ware the full extent of GCHQ's intercepted intelligence and its content was withheld from them.
Panorama - Omagh: What The Police Were Never Told, BBC1, tonight, 8.30pm.
BY ASHLEIGH McDONALD
INCREASING pressure for a full public inquiry into the Omagh bombing is mounting after it was claimed mobile phone calls between the bombers were recorded by intelligence agencies.
An investigation by the BBC's Panorama team unearthed allegations that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) monitored calls made between the bombing team on the day the massive device exploded in the Co Tyrone town.
Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died when the 500lb Real IRA bomb ripped through the heart of Omagh on Saturday August 15, 1998.
In the Panorama programme to be screened tonight, an investigation team claim GCHQ - which is responsible for intercepting electronic communications - recorded messages between the bombers both leading up to and on the day of the terrorist atrocity of the Troubles.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year old son Aiden in the blast, said: "It is becoming more difficult for the governments to deny the families a public inquiry, especially when we have such serious revelations as this."
The programme-makers claim GCHQ picked up a coded message between bombers which was used both on the day of the Omagh bomb and two weeks earlier when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of Banbridge.
In both incidents, GCHQ is said to have picked up the words "the bricks are in the wall' which is thought to have meant the bomb was in place and it was time to make a series of telephone warnings.
The intelligence agency is also alleged to have picked up a message saying "we're crossing the line" when the bombers drove over the border near Aughnacloy around an hour-and-a-half before the bomb exploded on Omagh's Lower Market Street.
The startling new allegations have once again shone the spotlight on the police investigation into the handling of the Omagh bomb and the subsequent manhunt.
To date, no-one has been convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing. Last December, south Armagh electrician Sean Hoey (38) was cleared of involvement following a lengthy trial. A civil case brought by the bereaved families against five men they believe were involved in the bombing is currently being held.
In light of the new allegations of recorded phone conversations between the bombers, Panorama presenter John Ware will question whether the atrocity could have been prevented.
The programme quotes well-placed sources as saying GCHQ were monitoring calls at the request of the then RUC Special Branch - which was confirmed by former Assistant Chief Constable Ray White.
One source tells the Panorama team GCHQ sent details of the conversations to Northern Ireland within six hours but this claim has been denied by Mr White who said Special Branch didn't receive the information until three days after the bomb.
Mr White claims Special Branch was expecting GCHQ to be recording 'live' conversations as they happened, meaning if a bombing was under way police would have the intelligence to launch a plan to arrest the bombers.
He also claims that when asked why they didn't pass the information on until the Tuesday after the bomb, someone in GCHQ said "we missed it".
Other detectives told Ware the full extent of GCHQ's intercepted intelligence and its content was withheld from them.
Panorama - Omagh: What The Police Were Never Told, BBC1, tonight, 8.30pm.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1108
Published Date: 15-Sep-08
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