MCGUINNESS IN PLEDGE ON BOMB PROBE
McGuinness in pledge on bomb probe
REPUBLICANS are prepared to cooperate with any independent, international inquiry into the Omagh bomb atrocity, Martin McGuinness said last night.
Deputy first minister Mr McGuinness, who is Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, made the pledge as victims' relatives intensified their campaign for a cross-border inquiry.
The assistance would be aimed at helping expose alleged PSNI incompetence and claims that police officers knew of the attack in advance, Mr McGuinness said. "Republicans would be only too glad to cooperate with any independent, international investigation into the bomb explosion because we think the PSNI themselves have questions to answer," he said.
"There's a very strong belief within Irish republicanism that the PSNI not alone failed to investigate the Omagh bomb properly but the RUC actually knew about the bomb before it took place."
The families of some of those murdered in the Real IRA massacre viewed Mr McGuinness's declaration as a significant
advancement on Sinn Fein's previous position.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was murdered in the August 1998 attack, said: "This is progress and something we welcome."
REPUBLICANS are prepared to cooperate with any independent, international inquiry into the Omagh bomb atrocity, Martin McGuinness said last night.
Deputy first minister Mr McGuinness, who is Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, made the pledge as victims' relatives intensified their campaign for a cross-border inquiry.
The assistance would be aimed at helping expose alleged PSNI incompetence and claims that police officers knew of the attack in advance, Mr McGuinness said. "Republicans would be only too glad to cooperate with any independent, international investigation into the bomb explosion because we think the PSNI themselves have questions to answer," he said.
"There's a very strong belief within Irish republicanism that the PSNI not alone failed to investigate the Omagh bomb properly but the RUC actually knew about the bomb before it took place."
The families of some of those murdered in the Real IRA massacre viewed Mr McGuinness's declaration as a significant
advancement on Sinn Fein's previous position.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was murdered in the August 1998 attack, said: "This is progress and something we welcome."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0845
Published Date: 18-May-07
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