OMAGH FAMILIES WANT SPEEDY REVIEW
Omagh families want speedy review
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
BEREAVED relatives of Omagh bomb victims last night urged the Prime Minister to speed up a review of intelligence material.
Michael Gallagher, a spokesman for families taking a civil action against five alleged bombers, said he hoped any relevant material could be admitted to the trial before it ends next month.
Gordon Brown announced an internal review yesterday following claims in a television documentary that the bombers' phones were being tapped by the Government listening station GCHQ.
He gave Sir Peter Gibson, the Intelligence Services Commissioner, three months to examine all intercept material from the security and intelligence service and assess how it was shared.
However, speaking outside the High Court in Belfast where the civil case was continuing, Mr Gallagher called on Downing Street to accelerate the review process and to make any transcripts or recordings available to the court.
Mr Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden was killed in the bombing, said the review should also be carried out publicly.
"We are delighted that the Prime Minister has acted very swiftly to deal with this issue but the fact that it is going to take three months to analyse the information means that the civil action trial will be over," he said.
"I have written to the Prime Minister asking him to make this information available immediately to the families so that we can use it in the civil action."
On Monday the Omagh families presented the Government with an ultimatum to hand over the potentially damning evidence about the bombers within a week or face legal action. The victims' group had been advised by their legal team that they can issue a subpoena to force GCHQ to hand over the intelligence material.
Mr Gallagher added: "We learned about it, like everybody else, in the media. But our primary concern is that the information will not be available for evidence by the end of the trial.
"We hope that any intelligence gleaned, if there is any intelligence, will be of some value for the civil action. That's ultimately what we would like to happen but we will have to wait and see what the outcome is."
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
BEREAVED relatives of Omagh bomb victims last night urged the Prime Minister to speed up a review of intelligence material.
Michael Gallagher, a spokesman for families taking a civil action against five alleged bombers, said he hoped any relevant material could be admitted to the trial before it ends next month.
Gordon Brown announced an internal review yesterday following claims in a television documentary that the bombers' phones were being tapped by the Government listening station GCHQ.
He gave Sir Peter Gibson, the Intelligence Services Commissioner, three months to examine all intercept material from the security and intelligence service and assess how it was shared.
However, speaking outside the High Court in Belfast where the civil case was continuing, Mr Gallagher called on Downing Street to accelerate the review process and to make any transcripts or recordings available to the court.
Mr Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden was killed in the bombing, said the review should also be carried out publicly.
"We are delighted that the Prime Minister has acted very swiftly to deal with this issue but the fact that it is going to take three months to analyse the information means that the civil action trial will be over," he said.
"I have written to the Prime Minister asking him to make this information available immediately to the families so that we can use it in the civil action."
On Monday the Omagh families presented the Government with an ultimatum to hand over the potentially damning evidence about the bombers within a week or face legal action. The victims' group had been advised by their legal team that they can issue a subpoena to force GCHQ to hand over the intelligence material.
Mr Gallagher added: "We learned about it, like everybody else, in the media. But our primary concern is that the information will not be available for evidence by the end of the trial.
"We hope that any intelligence gleaned, if there is any intelligence, will be of some value for the civil action. That's ultimately what we would like to happen but we will have to wait and see what the outcome is."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1112
Published Date: 18-Sep-08
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