WEAPONS FOUND AS RIFT GROWS
Weapons found as rift grows
By STAFF REPORTER
REPUBLICAN terrorist weapons were seized on both sides of the border yesterday as the gulf between unionists and Sinn Fein widened over decommissioning.
An old IRA explosives dump was discovered on the Glenshane Pass near Dungiven, Co Londonderry.
And police hunting the Omagh bombers found two mortar tubes in the chimney of an empty house in Co Cavan.
No arrests were made. Army bomb disposal experts were called in after the 180lb of home-made explosives were discovered inside a rubbish bin which had been dug into a bank on a side road outside Dungiven, about 300 yards off the main Belfast road.
A mk 16 mortar with a warhead and two timing units were also recovered by police, who moved in after the Army carried out a controlled explosion to make sure there were no booby traps.
The mortar tubes were found in the empty house at Crosskeys by police involved in the search for the Real IRA bombers who killed 29 people in Omagh last August.
East Londonderry MP William Ross, who lives in Dungiven, said: "It is quite certain that those who planted the explosives outside Dungiven are retaining their capacity for violence if they don't get their way.
"I assume the Secretary of State will, despite this discovery, persist in behaving like the proverbial monkeys -speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil," he said.
"The Government by its policy of Gerrypandering simply drives the law-abiding people to despair and confirms the belief of the terrorists that violence pays very high returns."
Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin had earlier warned that forcing the IRA to make even a token gesture on disarmament could de-stabilise the republican leadership with unpredictable consequences.
The Ulster Unionists refuse to share power with Sinn Fein unless the IRA gives up its weapons. Senior Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey accused Mr McLaughlin of a "blatant threat".
He said: "The same type of language was used before the Canary Wharf bomb. Whenever republicans find themselves 'in crisis', it's code for going back to what they know best."
By STAFF REPORTER
REPUBLICAN terrorist weapons were seized on both sides of the border yesterday as the gulf between unionists and Sinn Fein widened over decommissioning.
An old IRA explosives dump was discovered on the Glenshane Pass near Dungiven, Co Londonderry.
And police hunting the Omagh bombers found two mortar tubes in the chimney of an empty house in Co Cavan.
No arrests were made. Army bomb disposal experts were called in after the 180lb of home-made explosives were discovered inside a rubbish bin which had been dug into a bank on a side road outside Dungiven, about 300 yards off the main Belfast road.
A mk 16 mortar with a warhead and two timing units were also recovered by police, who moved in after the Army carried out a controlled explosion to make sure there were no booby traps.
The mortar tubes were found in the empty house at Crosskeys by police involved in the search for the Real IRA bombers who killed 29 people in Omagh last August.
East Londonderry MP William Ross, who lives in Dungiven, said: "It is quite certain that those who planted the explosives outside Dungiven are retaining their capacity for violence if they don't get their way.
"I assume the Secretary of State will, despite this discovery, persist in behaving like the proverbial monkeys -speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil," he said.
"The Government by its policy of Gerrypandering simply drives the law-abiding people to despair and confirms the belief of the terrorists that violence pays very high returns."
Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin had earlier warned that forcing the IRA to make even a token gesture on disarmament could de-stabilise the republican leadership with unpredictable consequences.
The Ulster Unionists refuse to share power with Sinn Fein unless the IRA gives up its weapons. Senior Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey accused Mr McLaughlin of a "blatant threat".
He said: "The same type of language was used before the Canary Wharf bomb. Whenever republicans find themselves 'in crisis', it's code for going back to what they know best."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/211
Published Date: 27-Feb-99
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