PSNI CHIEF SILENT OVER MI5 INFO ON OMAGH
PSNI chief silent over MI5 info on Omagh
By Alan Erwin, PA
M15 did not deprive police of any intelligence during their investigation into the Omagh bombing, the chief constable said yesterday.
But Sir Hugh Orde resisted demands at a meeting of the Policing Board yesterday to confirm if the agency held back information months before the Real IRA killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, in August 1998.
His public refusal could heighten uncertainty over whether the attack could have been prevented, a Policing Board representative claimed.
The SDLPs Alex Attwood said: "The failure to answer that question will not reassure people.
"The truth of the matter is there may have been intelligence prior to the murders that wasn't shared.
"We will never know if that might or might not have avoided that awful tragedy."
The allegations that MI5 failed to inform Special Branch of the threat emerged during an investigation into an FBI agent who infiltrated the Real IRA.
Based on a tip off from American trucking company boss David Rupert, who was working undercover within the dissident paramilitary group, three suspects were arrested by gardai in 1998, but released without charge.
Mr Rupert had warned that paramilitaries based in Co Donegal were planning a strike on either Omagh or Derry, but most likely Omagh, security sources had disclosed.
It was claimed that the then RUC were aware that a paramilitary organisation had been disrupted due to the MI5 tip off.
But sources said no trace could be found on their records of any intelligence from the security services that Omagh or Derry had been targeted.
Police only became aware after detectives involved in the Omagh bomb inquiry spoke to Mr Rupert and studied emails that the agent had exchanged with his handlers in the FBI and MI5.
Mr Rupert had been the central witness in the successful conviction of the Real IRA mastermind, Michael McKevitt, who was jailed for 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism.
Challenged at yesterday's meeting by Mr Attwood to confirm whether MI5 information was passed to police before the bombing, the chief constable said he would not stand over the accuracy of the allegations.
"It is the view of the senior investigating officer [Superintendent Norman Baxter] who I spoke to only two hours ago that the security services did not withhold intelligence that was relevant or would have progressed the Omagh inquiry," he said.
Sir Hugh also stressed that the dissident republican suspects investigated in April 1998 were from a different cell than those involved in the Omagh bomb plot.
"There is no evidence to link these two units," he said.
He said senior officers had met with the Omagh bomb victims' families last week to brief them on the state of the inquiry.
One man has been accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing.
South Armagh electrician Sean Hoey (36) denies any involvement in the attack.
By Alan Erwin, PA
M15 did not deprive police of any intelligence during their investigation into the Omagh bombing, the chief constable said yesterday.
But Sir Hugh Orde resisted demands at a meeting of the Policing Board yesterday to confirm if the agency held back information months before the Real IRA killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, in August 1998.
His public refusal could heighten uncertainty over whether the attack could have been prevented, a Policing Board representative claimed.
The SDLPs Alex Attwood said: "The failure to answer that question will not reassure people.
"The truth of the matter is there may have been intelligence prior to the murders that wasn't shared.
"We will never know if that might or might not have avoided that awful tragedy."
The allegations that MI5 failed to inform Special Branch of the threat emerged during an investigation into an FBI agent who infiltrated the Real IRA.
Based on a tip off from American trucking company boss David Rupert, who was working undercover within the dissident paramilitary group, three suspects were arrested by gardai in 1998, but released without charge.
Mr Rupert had warned that paramilitaries based in Co Donegal were planning a strike on either Omagh or Derry, but most likely Omagh, security sources had disclosed.
It was claimed that the then RUC were aware that a paramilitary organisation had been disrupted due to the MI5 tip off.
But sources said no trace could be found on their records of any intelligence from the security services that Omagh or Derry had been targeted.
Police only became aware after detectives involved in the Omagh bomb inquiry spoke to Mr Rupert and studied emails that the agent had exchanged with his handlers in the FBI and MI5.
Mr Rupert had been the central witness in the successful conviction of the Real IRA mastermind, Michael McKevitt, who was jailed for 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism.
Challenged at yesterday's meeting by Mr Attwood to confirm whether MI5 information was passed to police before the bombing, the chief constable said he would not stand over the accuracy of the allegations.
"It is the view of the senior investigating officer [Superintendent Norman Baxter] who I spoke to only two hours ago that the security services did not withhold intelligence that was relevant or would have progressed the Omagh inquiry," he said.
Sir Hugh also stressed that the dissident republican suspects investigated in April 1998 were from a different cell than those involved in the Omagh bomb plot.
"There is no evidence to link these two units," he said.
He said senior officers had met with the Omagh bomb victims' families last week to brief them on the state of the inquiry.
One man has been accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing.
South Armagh electrician Sean Hoey (36) denies any involvement in the attack.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0779
Published Date: 02-Mar-06
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