IN/0410

£I million predicted for victims of Omagh bomb
By Steven McCaffery

ORGANISERS of the Omagh memorial fund will today announce they have so far collected £200,000 for those bereaved and injured in the devastating bomb blast
Although the figure falls short of many forecasts for the fund, organisers have said hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of pledged donations, yet to be received, should take the total to £1million.
The five trustees who will handle the fund are to reveal details of their plans for allocating the financial aid at a press conference in Omagh today.
It is understood the trustees, drawn from the business community and local government, will pledge themselves to distributing the cash as "quickly as is possible". This follows comments by a spokesman for the fund organisers who yesterday rejected claims there was a delay in distributing the cash.
Details of money raising projects have continued to emerge in recent days, with claims that a celebrity album - including contributions from U2, Sinead O'Connor and Ash - will add to the Omagh Fund.
The bomb blast in the Co Tyrone town killed 29 people, claimed the lives of unborn twins, injured hundreds of bystanders and led indirectly to the death of a man killed in a road accident involving an ambulance ferrying Omagh victims.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street office yesterday said plans for a special service of remembrance for the victims, set to be attended by Mr Blair and the queen, were still being discussed.
Meanwhile police forces on both sides of the border have renewed pledges to trace the Real IRA gang responsible for the Omagh atrocity.
This comes after 12 people being questioned by the RUC and Gardai in connection with the blast were released without charge.
Six men detained by the RUC last Monday in early morning raids on addresses across south Armagh were released on Sunday night without charge. Six other people arrested in simultaneous raids by the Gardai across the border in Co Monaghan have also been released without charge.
The RUC has also confirmed it is investigated claims of a Continuity IRA rocket attack on Enniskillen police station on Wednesday September 23.
A police spokesperson said a telephone call claiming the alleged Enniskillen attack was phoned to a Belfast newsroom using a recognised codeword, but after an eight-hour security operation the police could find no sign of a device and declared the call a hoax.
A recent announcement by the Real IRA, the organisation which claimed responsibility for the Omagh bomb blast, that it was to begin a ceasefire has left the Continuity IRA the only republican grouping still not on ceasefire.
Weeks after police forces across Ireland were armed with tough new laws to crack down on paramilitary activity, news reports have also claimed leading members of the Real IRA are currently attempting to forge an alliance with members of the Continuity IRA.
Gardai sources are reportedly monitoring the situation.