OMAGH LINKED TO OTHER TERROR PLOTS COURT HEARS
Omagh linked to other terror plots, court hears
BY ALAN ERWIN
A TOP anti-terrorist police officer has linked seven dissident republican plots in Britain to the organisation behind the Omagh bombing.
Detective Inspector Nick Smith yesterday told the High Court in Belfast about a series of attacks and intercepted strikes carried out by the Real IRA after it murdered 29 people in Omagh in August 1998.
The veteran policeman, from Scotland Yard's Counter-Terrorism Branch, gave evidence as part of the civil action being taken by relatives of some of the Omagh victims. He discussed similarities in methods and equipment used during a campaign which was mainly directed at targets in London, and the authorities' successes in disrupting the terrorists.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart QC for the families, Mr Smith dealt first with Operation Petron where three men were arrested in July 1998 - a month before Omagh - over a suspected plan to attack a furniture shop in London. Police discovered components which resembled those used in Omagh, including the same timer device, the court heard.
Earlier the trial had heard allegations that convicted terrorist leader Michael McKevitt - who is being sued along with Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly - planned a campaign after the atrocity.
Mr Smith dealt with some of the most high profile incidents claimed formed part of that strategy. An attack on London's Hammersmith Bridge in June 2000, codenamed Operation Greyhound by the anti-terrorist unit, was said to have used similar explosives. Operation Mainsail, the inquiry into the attempt to blow up Acton Railway Station in July 2001 - the same coded warning and timer device were used. Also two attacks on Post Office sorting offices in west London in April and May 2001
involved the same "methodology" as the Acton incident, according to Mr Smith.
The mortar strike on MI6's London HQ in September 2000 - Operation Chipboard - involved similar weaponry to that seized in Co Tyrone earlier that year.
Mr Smith claimed the attack on the BBC in London in March 2001 - Operation Studio - had multiple links to two terrorist incidents that year - one in London; the other in Birmingham.
Finally Operation Benedict, where an arms procurement cell was penetrated in 2001 was linked to three men who all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause explosions at Woolwich Crown Court in May 2002. Arms being bought had included RPG equipment like that used in the Hammersmith attack, the court was told.
Mr Smith added: "The weaponry that they were procuring was substantially consistent to that which was figuring in many of the cases."
The trial continues tomorrow.
BY ALAN ERWIN
A TOP anti-terrorist police officer has linked seven dissident republican plots in Britain to the organisation behind the Omagh bombing.
Detective Inspector Nick Smith yesterday told the High Court in Belfast about a series of attacks and intercepted strikes carried out by the Real IRA after it murdered 29 people in Omagh in August 1998.
The veteran policeman, from Scotland Yard's Counter-Terrorism Branch, gave evidence as part of the civil action being taken by relatives of some of the Omagh victims. He discussed similarities in methods and equipment used during a campaign which was mainly directed at targets in London, and the authorities' successes in disrupting the terrorists.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart QC for the families, Mr Smith dealt first with Operation Petron where three men were arrested in July 1998 - a month before Omagh - over a suspected plan to attack a furniture shop in London. Police discovered components which resembled those used in Omagh, including the same timer device, the court heard.
Earlier the trial had heard allegations that convicted terrorist leader Michael McKevitt - who is being sued along with Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly - planned a campaign after the atrocity.
Mr Smith dealt with some of the most high profile incidents claimed formed part of that strategy. An attack on London's Hammersmith Bridge in June 2000, codenamed Operation Greyhound by the anti-terrorist unit, was said to have used similar explosives. Operation Mainsail, the inquiry into the attempt to blow up Acton Railway Station in July 2001 - the same coded warning and timer device were used. Also two attacks on Post Office sorting offices in west London in April and May 2001
involved the same "methodology" as the Acton incident, according to Mr Smith.
The mortar strike on MI6's London HQ in September 2000 - Operation Chipboard - involved similar weaponry to that seized in Co Tyrone earlier that year.
Mr Smith claimed the attack on the BBC in London in March 2001 - Operation Studio - had multiple links to two terrorist incidents that year - one in London; the other in Birmingham.
Finally Operation Benedict, where an arms procurement cell was penetrated in 2001 was linked to three men who all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause explosions at Woolwich Crown Court in May 2002. Arms being bought had included RPG equipment like that used in the Hammersmith attack, the court was told.
Mr Smith added: "The weaponry that they were procuring was substantially consistent to that which was figuring in many of the cases."
The trial continues tomorrow.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/781
Published Date: 24-Sep-08
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