SEVEN HELD IN OMAGH PROBE
Seven held in Omagh probe
Men quizzed after cross-border raids
By JEANETTE OLDHAM
SEVEN men were being quizzed about the Omagh bombing last night following dawn swoops on both sides of the border.
The RUC were detaining two men from the south Armagh area, while in the Republic five men, one said to be from Northern Ireland, were in Garda custody.
Both forces described the arrests as "significant" in the six-month hunt for those responsible for killing 29 people and injuring more than 300 others in Ulster's single worst atrocity.
Officers on both sides of the border worked together to bring in the men during the breakfast-time raids.
The five suspects being held in the Republic include two men in their 30s, one in his 50s and another aged 60. All were picked up in Dundalk, heartland of the Real IRA group which admitted carrying out the bombing.
Three of them are being detained in Monaghan, base for the Irish probe into the attack; the other two are at Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, the town where the car in which the 5001b bomb was planted had been stolen before the August 15 blast.
Under Irish anti-terrorist laws introduced in the wake of the blast, gardai can hold suspects for up to 48 hours before they must be either charged or released - the RUC can hold suspects for up to seven days.
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist security spokesman Michael McGimpsey welcomed the arrests and said he hoped they were a sign that police were making progress in the hunt for the perpetrators.
The men leading the probes on both sides of the border, RUC Chief Supt Eric Anderson and Irish Commissioner Pat Byrne, have said previously that the identities of those involved in the bombing are known to them. Mr Byrne recently said he was confident there would be prosecutions.
Men quizzed after cross-border raids
By JEANETTE OLDHAM
SEVEN men were being quizzed about the Omagh bombing last night following dawn swoops on both sides of the border.
The RUC were detaining two men from the south Armagh area, while in the Republic five men, one said to be from Northern Ireland, were in Garda custody.
Both forces described the arrests as "significant" in the six-month hunt for those responsible for killing 29 people and injuring more than 300 others in Ulster's single worst atrocity.
Officers on both sides of the border worked together to bring in the men during the breakfast-time raids.
The five suspects being held in the Republic include two men in their 30s, one in his 50s and another aged 60. All were picked up in Dundalk, heartland of the Real IRA group which admitted carrying out the bombing.
Three of them are being detained in Monaghan, base for the Irish probe into the attack; the other two are at Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, the town where the car in which the 5001b bomb was planted had been stolen before the August 15 blast.
Under Irish anti-terrorist laws introduced in the wake of the blast, gardai can hold suspects for up to 48 hours before they must be either charged or released - the RUC can hold suspects for up to seven days.
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist security spokesman Michael McGimpsey welcomed the arrests and said he hoped they were a sign that police were making progress in the hunt for the perpetrators.
The men leading the probes on both sides of the border, RUC Chief Supt Eric Anderson and Irish Commissioner Pat Byrne, have said previously that the identities of those involved in the bombing are known to them. Mr Byrne recently said he was confident there would be prosecutions.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/202
Published Date: 22-Feb-99
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