OMAGH VICTIMS' FAMILIES TO HOLD TALKS WITH PM
Omagh victims' families to hold talks with PM
Belfast Telegraph
FAMILIES of Omagh bombing victims will hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown over claims that security lapses could have played a role in the atrocity, it emerged today.
The news comes as a report into alleged intelligence service failures over the Omagh bombing was expected to be released.
The purpose of the report, produced by Intelligence Services Commissioner Sir Peter Gibson, was to probe claims that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had monitored the bombers as they drove into the Co Tyrone town on August 15, 1998.
Allegations over GCHQ and the alleged failure to share intelligence surrounding the bombing were raised in a Panorama documentary last year.
The programme claimed intelligence officers had been listening to and recording mobile telephone exchanges between occupants in the scout car and those in the Vauxhall Cavalier bomb car as they travelled across the border.
Former senior RUC officers who were involved in the initial investigation say they were never told of the existence of the tapes and were only given names of possible suspects by GCHQ days after the attack.
This morning, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward was due to present Sir Peter Gibson's findings in the House of Commons.
Bereaved relatives are currently pursuing a civil action against five men and campaigning for a full public inquiry into the events surrounding Omagh. They had hoped to admit any GCHQ recordings as evidence in their long running court case.
Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group, who lost his 21-year-old son Aiden, said: "I hope that it would shed some light on why it took 10 years for the families to discover, and even then only through an investigative reporter, that there was very good quality intelligence leading up to Omagh and why that was not handed over to the police.
"There has been media speculation that the report will say there was nothing of any evidential value that families could use in the civil action and if there was it could work to the advantage of terrorists. I think they probably have it right."
The Real IRA attack which killed 29 people and unborn twins was the single worst atrocity of the Troubles.
More than 200 others were injured when the 500lb car bomb ripped through the centre of the town.
Despite police inquiries on both sides of the border, none of the bombers are in jail.
Belfast Telegraph
FAMILIES of Omagh bombing victims will hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown over claims that security lapses could have played a role in the atrocity, it emerged today.
The news comes as a report into alleged intelligence service failures over the Omagh bombing was expected to be released.
The purpose of the report, produced by Intelligence Services Commissioner Sir Peter Gibson, was to probe claims that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had monitored the bombers as they drove into the Co Tyrone town on August 15, 1998.
Allegations over GCHQ and the alleged failure to share intelligence surrounding the bombing were raised in a Panorama documentary last year.
The programme claimed intelligence officers had been listening to and recording mobile telephone exchanges between occupants in the scout car and those in the Vauxhall Cavalier bomb car as they travelled across the border.
Former senior RUC officers who were involved in the initial investigation say they were never told of the existence of the tapes and were only given names of possible suspects by GCHQ days after the attack.
This morning, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward was due to present Sir Peter Gibson's findings in the House of Commons.
Bereaved relatives are currently pursuing a civil action against five men and campaigning for a full public inquiry into the events surrounding Omagh. They had hoped to admit any GCHQ recordings as evidence in their long running court case.
Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group, who lost his 21-year-old son Aiden, said: "I hope that it would shed some light on why it took 10 years for the families to discover, and even then only through an investigative reporter, that there was very good quality intelligence leading up to Omagh and why that was not handed over to the police.
"There has been media speculation that the report will say there was nothing of any evidential value that families could use in the civil action and if there was it could work to the advantage of terrorists. I think they probably have it right."
The Real IRA attack which killed 29 people and unborn twins was the single worst atrocity of the Troubles.
More than 200 others were injured when the 500lb car bomb ripped through the centre of the town.
Despite police inquiries on both sides of the border, none of the bombers are in jail.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1171
Published Date: 21-Jan-09
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.