RUC PINPOINT LAST MOVEMENTS OF BOMBERS CAR
RUC pinpoint last movements of bombers' car
By MARY O'CARROLL
THE RUC yesterday revealed information on the final movements of the car used to transport the 500lb bomb which caused the carnage at Omagh last Saturday on the day the funerals of the last eight victims of the bombing took place.
Two men were seen getting out of the maroon Vauxhall Cavalier which was abandoned in Market Street at least 40 minutes before the device went off on Saturday.
The car, stolen several days earlier in Carrickmacross, across the Border in Co Monaghan, was seen being driven into the town along Campsie Road. Police investigating the massacre say it was then parked in a vacant spot in Market Street.
The two men were then seen walking back towards Campsie, but it is not known if they turned left into Drumragh Avenue, right into Dublin Road, or straight ahead back towards Campsie and towards the countryside.
Police said the car was parked in Market Street between 2pm and 2.30pm. The bomb went off at 3.10pm after the terrorists claimed the Cavalier had been left near the town's court house.
It is not clear if the police used recordings from security videos or eyewitness accounts to pinpoint the car's final movements or the two men seen getting out of it, but this is a significant breakthrough in their inquiry.
Inaccurate warnings had been given, however, and the car exploded outside SD Kells' drapery shop, where scores of people were standing after being evacuated from the town centre while police checked the alert.
Five people including Shane Mackey, the son of Omagh District Councillor and 32-County Sovereignty Committee member Francie Mackey, were taken in for questioning but three of them were released last night without charge.
As 77 people, six adults and two children remained critically ill in hospital, Sinn Fein yesterday denied media reports that party intermediaries met the Real IRA and told them to stop their campaign of terror.
A Sinn Fein spokesperson said reports in two Belfast newspapers that party chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said members made the Real IRA "an offer it couldn't refuse'' was a misquotation. Dublin-based republicans told the Irish News that the Real IRA cessation of violence came after mainstream republicans in the South warned the organisation to cease its activities.
"Sinn Fein all along has been using its influence and analysis to try and persuade all these armed groups to desist from armed action,'' the spokesperson said, adding that he was "not aware of any more contact'' than that.
Fears of further atrocities were gathering ground in Belfast as politicians North and South dismissed the Real IRA 's ceasefire announcement. The North's First Minister David Trimble said it was "pretty contemptible'', Seamus Mallon Deputy First Minister said it was "an attempt to excuse the inexcusable'' while Mitchel McLaughlin described it as "insufficient''.
Sources said police officers fear the possibility of another attack in towns like Ballymena, Dungannon or Belfast itself, as car bombs tend to be planned well in advance. A number of incendiary devices have caused extensive damage to shops in the city centre over the past fortnight.
Ulster Unionist Party Councillor Jim Rodgers said he had heard of no specific warnings but added: "I understand there are fears among security chiefs of another major attack on another town within weeks if not days.''
The Progressive Unionist Party Assembly member Billy Hutchinson said his party met the Northern Secretary Mo Mowlam yesterday to talk about security.
By MARY O'CARROLL
THE RUC yesterday revealed information on the final movements of the car used to transport the 500lb bomb which caused the carnage at Omagh last Saturday on the day the funerals of the last eight victims of the bombing took place.
Two men were seen getting out of the maroon Vauxhall Cavalier which was abandoned in Market Street at least 40 minutes before the device went off on Saturday.
The car, stolen several days earlier in Carrickmacross, across the Border in Co Monaghan, was seen being driven into the town along Campsie Road. Police investigating the massacre say it was then parked in a vacant spot in Market Street.
The two men were then seen walking back towards Campsie, but it is not known if they turned left into Drumragh Avenue, right into Dublin Road, or straight ahead back towards Campsie and towards the countryside.
Police said the car was parked in Market Street between 2pm and 2.30pm. The bomb went off at 3.10pm after the terrorists claimed the Cavalier had been left near the town's court house.
It is not clear if the police used recordings from security videos or eyewitness accounts to pinpoint the car's final movements or the two men seen getting out of it, but this is a significant breakthrough in their inquiry.
Inaccurate warnings had been given, however, and the car exploded outside SD Kells' drapery shop, where scores of people were standing after being evacuated from the town centre while police checked the alert.
Five people including Shane Mackey, the son of Omagh District Councillor and 32-County Sovereignty Committee member Francie Mackey, were taken in for questioning but three of them were released last night without charge.
As 77 people, six adults and two children remained critically ill in hospital, Sinn Fein yesterday denied media reports that party intermediaries met the Real IRA and told them to stop their campaign of terror.
A Sinn Fein spokesperson said reports in two Belfast newspapers that party chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said members made the Real IRA "an offer it couldn't refuse'' was a misquotation. Dublin-based republicans told the Irish News that the Real IRA cessation of violence came after mainstream republicans in the South warned the organisation to cease its activities.
"Sinn Fein all along has been using its influence and analysis to try and persuade all these armed groups to desist from armed action,'' the spokesperson said, adding that he was "not aware of any more contact'' than that.
Fears of further atrocities were gathering ground in Belfast as politicians North and South dismissed the Real IRA 's ceasefire announcement. The North's First Minister David Trimble said it was "pretty contemptible'', Seamus Mallon Deputy First Minister said it was "an attempt to excuse the inexcusable'' while Mitchel McLaughlin described it as "insufficient''.
Sources said police officers fear the possibility of another attack in towns like Ballymena, Dungannon or Belfast itself, as car bombs tend to be planned well in advance. A number of incendiary devices have caused extensive damage to shops in the city centre over the past fortnight.
Ulster Unionist Party Councillor Jim Rodgers said he had heard of no specific warnings but added: "I understand there are fears among security chiefs of another major attack on another town within weeks if not days.''
The Progressive Unionist Party Assembly member Billy Hutchinson said his party met the Northern Secretary Mo Mowlam yesterday to talk about security.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/072
Published Date: 21-Aug-98
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