DID OMAGH BOMBER USE KIDS AS COVER
DID OMAGH BOMBERS USE KIDS AS COVER?
Children 'in back seat of suspect car'?
By DERIC HENDERSON
CHILDREN may have been used as cover for the lookouts working for the terrorists who bombed Omagh, it was revealed last night.
As Chief Constable Hugh Orde examined a highly critical new report of the work of Special Branch, it emerged that three young boys were in the back of a car driven by a man whom police believe could have been scouting for the gang.
They were spotted parked on a grass verge on the outskirts of the town in the hours before the August, 1998, Real IRA attack which left 29 people dead.
It is understood at least two witnesses have told investigating detectives they saw children playing beside a blue Corsa or Nova while a group of men, one wearing a rugby shirt, leaned across the roof examining a map.
Parked nearby outside a meat plant on Omagh's Dublin Road, two miles from the town centre, was a red Vauxhall Cavalier - the same type of car which carried the huge bomb -with a man slumped in the front passenger seat.
The terrorist who later abandoned the Cavalier in Market Street was also wearing a rugby top, according to another witness.
Three young boys were also spotted in the back of the second car and, although a direct link has yet to be established, detectives are investigating the possibility that this may have been a scout car with the children as rear-seat passengers to help the terrorists bluff their way past any security checkpoints.
Asst Chief Const Sam Kinkaid, the officer heading the new inquiry into Omagh, refused to comment on the line of inquiry.
But he confirmed: "We are still trying to identify any scout cars that accompanied the car carrying the bomb. There is every possibility that the occupants of such a car would have tried hard to look inconspicuous."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has categorically denied his government was involved in any deal with the dissident republican group after Omagh. He rejected claims that he agreed none of the suspects would be charged in return for a ceasefire.
Last night, he said: "The allegation is as outrageous as it is deeply offensive. The evidence is entirely to the contrary."
Part of the new report on the work of Special Branch - ordered after a seriously flawed first inquiry into Omagh - is believed to focus on failure to make more effective use of its intelligence in the detection of terrorism.
Police say that the fresh investigation has been widened in a move to try to track down the bombers.
Nearly 20 other terrorist attacks which happened in the run-up to the outrage, all of them linked to the Real IRA, are being investigated as part of the same inquiry.
Even though detectives have identified the men they suspect were responsible, there is insufficient evidence to charge them.
Mr Kinkaid said: "We are determined to catch the people who bombed Omagh.
"I cannot tell the families we will get the bombers but I can promise we will do our professional best."
Dan Crompton of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary was called in to review the workings of the Special Branch after it emerged that a tip-off - delivered 11 days previously - that Omagh was to be hit on the day of the attack was not passed on to officers on the ground.
The report, due to be handed over when the Chief Constable meets the policing board today, is expected to call for big changes in the running of the intelligence-gathering network.
It is understood to be highly critical of the branch's failure to analyse information and use it for evidential opportunities.
The report is also likely to disclose levels of frustration by senior officers towards Special Branch.
Children 'in back seat of suspect car'?
By DERIC HENDERSON
CHILDREN may have been used as cover for the lookouts working for the terrorists who bombed Omagh, it was revealed last night.
As Chief Constable Hugh Orde examined a highly critical new report of the work of Special Branch, it emerged that three young boys were in the back of a car driven by a man whom police believe could have been scouting for the gang.
They were spotted parked on a grass verge on the outskirts of the town in the hours before the August, 1998, Real IRA attack which left 29 people dead.
It is understood at least two witnesses have told investigating detectives they saw children playing beside a blue Corsa or Nova while a group of men, one wearing a rugby shirt, leaned across the roof examining a map.
Parked nearby outside a meat plant on Omagh's Dublin Road, two miles from the town centre, was a red Vauxhall Cavalier - the same type of car which carried the huge bomb -with a man slumped in the front passenger seat.
The terrorist who later abandoned the Cavalier in Market Street was also wearing a rugby top, according to another witness.
Three young boys were also spotted in the back of the second car and, although a direct link has yet to be established, detectives are investigating the possibility that this may have been a scout car with the children as rear-seat passengers to help the terrorists bluff their way past any security checkpoints.
Asst Chief Const Sam Kinkaid, the officer heading the new inquiry into Omagh, refused to comment on the line of inquiry.
But he confirmed: "We are still trying to identify any scout cars that accompanied the car carrying the bomb. There is every possibility that the occupants of such a car would have tried hard to look inconspicuous."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has categorically denied his government was involved in any deal with the dissident republican group after Omagh. He rejected claims that he agreed none of the suspects would be charged in return for a ceasefire.
Last night, he said: "The allegation is as outrageous as it is deeply offensive. The evidence is entirely to the contrary."
Part of the new report on the work of Special Branch - ordered after a seriously flawed first inquiry into Omagh - is believed to focus on failure to make more effective use of its intelligence in the detection of terrorism.
Police say that the fresh investigation has been widened in a move to try to track down the bombers.
Nearly 20 other terrorist attacks which happened in the run-up to the outrage, all of them linked to the Real IRA, are being investigated as part of the same inquiry.
Even though detectives have identified the men they suspect were responsible, there is insufficient evidence to charge them.
Mr Kinkaid said: "We are determined to catch the people who bombed Omagh.
"I cannot tell the families we will get the bombers but I can promise we will do our professional best."
Dan Crompton of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary was called in to review the workings of the Special Branch after it emerged that a tip-off - delivered 11 days previously - that Omagh was to be hit on the day of the attack was not passed on to officers on the ground.
The report, due to be handed over when the Chief Constable meets the policing board today, is expected to call for big changes in the running of the intelligence-gathering network.
It is understood to be highly critical of the branch's failure to analyse information and use it for evidential opportunities.
The report is also likely to disclose levels of frustration by senior officers towards Special Branch.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/454
Published Date: 06-Nov-02
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