RELATIVES TO ADDRESS OMAGH WARNING ISSUE
Relatives to address Omagh warning issue
By Sharon O'Neill
Chief Reporter
IN ANONYMOUS telephone call warning of an attack on the day of the Omagh bombing is expected to be raised at a meeting between relatives and Secretary of State Paul Murphy today.
Mr Murphy, below, is due to hold talks with families at Stormont this afternoon.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the 1998 Real IRA attack, yesterday confirmed that matters arising out of a previous meeting last summer will be discussed, as well as the latest development to emerge in the case.
Last month it was revealed that a Special Branch officer is to be questioned by the PSNI about an anonymous telephone call which warned of a planned attack on police in Omagh on August 15 1998. The call to a detective constable in Omagh, 11 days before the bombing, was passed on to Special Branch but the information was not relayed to police on the ground.
The male caller claimed two men would be bringing across the border four dismantled AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers belonging to the Continuity IRA to be used in an attack on police in Omagh.
It has been reported that suspicions about the identity of the caller were raised several months ago but police, who refused to comment on the new line of inquiry, have still to question him directly about Omagh.
So far no-one has been charged with the murders of the 29 victims including a woman pregnant with twins.
A damning report by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the RUC's handling of the original investigation prompted a major overhaul of murder probes and the handling of intelligence.
Last year a Co Armagh man became the first person in the north to be charged in connection with the Omagh bombing.
Today's meeting between Omagh relatives and the secretary of state will focus on long-running concerns over any MI5 knowledge of the Real IRA's plan to target the town.
Mr Gallagher, above, said: "This is a follow-up meeting to one last summer with the secretary of state. We raised a number of very pointed questions with him and we never received any answers.
"We will also be raising the issue around the phone call on August 4.1 have written to Policing Board chairman Des Rea, Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan and [Human Rights commissioner] Brice Dickson about the phone call.
"We are now in the seventh year. We are concerned that Omagh will be glossed over, the same as all of the other murders over the last 35 years."
Mr Gallagher said he still had concerns about the police probe, despite a rejuvenated investigation that includes a new team of officers.
"We have every confidence in Norman Baxter, the senior investigating officer but we don't share that confidence with the ranks above him," he said.
"We believe Omagh has become politicised. It is for that reason that we believe the only way to get the truth is by a full cross-border public inquiry." secretary of state. We raised a number of very pointed questions with him and we never received any answers.
"We will also be raising the issue around the phone call on August 4.1 have written to Policing Board chairman Des Rea, Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan and [Human Rights commissioner] Brice Dickson about the phone call.
"We are now in the seventh year. We are concerned that Omagh will be glossed over, the same as all of the other murders over the last 35 years."
Mr Gallagher said he still had concerns about the police probe, despite a rejuvenated investigation that includes a new team of officers.
"We have every confidence in Norman Baxter, the senior investigating officer but we don't share that confidence with the ranks above him," he said.
"We believe Omagh has become politicised. It is for that reason that we believe the only way to get the truth is by a full cross-border public inquiry."
By Sharon O'Neill
Chief Reporter
IN ANONYMOUS telephone call warning of an attack on the day of the Omagh bombing is expected to be raised at a meeting between relatives and Secretary of State Paul Murphy today.
Mr Murphy, below, is due to hold talks with families at Stormont this afternoon.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the 1998 Real IRA attack, yesterday confirmed that matters arising out of a previous meeting last summer will be discussed, as well as the latest development to emerge in the case.
Last month it was revealed that a Special Branch officer is to be questioned by the PSNI about an anonymous telephone call which warned of a planned attack on police in Omagh on August 15 1998. The call to a detective constable in Omagh, 11 days before the bombing, was passed on to Special Branch but the information was not relayed to police on the ground.
The male caller claimed two men would be bringing across the border four dismantled AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers belonging to the Continuity IRA to be used in an attack on police in Omagh.
It has been reported that suspicions about the identity of the caller were raised several months ago but police, who refused to comment on the new line of inquiry, have still to question him directly about Omagh.
So far no-one has been charged with the murders of the 29 victims including a woman pregnant with twins.
A damning report by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the RUC's handling of the original investigation prompted a major overhaul of murder probes and the handling of intelligence.
Last year a Co Armagh man became the first person in the north to be charged in connection with the Omagh bombing.
Today's meeting between Omagh relatives and the secretary of state will focus on long-running concerns over any MI5 knowledge of the Real IRA's plan to target the town.
Mr Gallagher, above, said: "This is a follow-up meeting to one last summer with the secretary of state. We raised a number of very pointed questions with him and we never received any answers.
"We will also be raising the issue around the phone call on August 4.1 have written to Policing Board chairman Des Rea, Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan and [Human Rights commissioner] Brice Dickson about the phone call.
"We are now in the seventh year. We are concerned that Omagh will be glossed over, the same as all of the other murders over the last 35 years."
Mr Gallagher said he still had concerns about the police probe, despite a rejuvenated investigation that includes a new team of officers.
"We have every confidence in Norman Baxter, the senior investigating officer but we don't share that confidence with the ranks above him," he said.
"We believe Omagh has become politicised. It is for that reason that we believe the only way to get the truth is by a full cross-border public inquiry." secretary of state. We raised a number of very pointed questions with him and we never received any answers.
"We will also be raising the issue around the phone call on August 4.1 have written to Policing Board chairman Des Rea, Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan and [Human Rights commissioner] Brice Dickson about the phone call.
"We are now in the seventh year. We are concerned that Omagh will be glossed over, the same as all of the other murders over the last 35 years."
Mr Gallagher said he still had concerns about the police probe, despite a rejuvenated investigation that includes a new team of officers.
"We have every confidence in Norman Baxter, the senior investigating officer but we don't share that confidence with the ranks above him," he said.
"We believe Omagh has become politicised. It is for that reason that we believe the only way to get the truth is by a full cross-border public inquiry."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0719
Published Date: 10-Jan-05
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