WITHHOLDING OMAGH PHONE CALLS WOULD BE AFFRONT TO JUSTICE
Withholding Omagh phone calls 'would be affront to justice'
BY ALAN ERWIN
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
IT would be an "affront to justice" if British intelligence services were not forced to reveal all material linked to mobile phone conversations recorded on the day of the Omagh bombing, the High Court heard yesterday.
Lawyers for victims' relatives who are seeking any tapes, transcripts or notes as part of their multi-million pound compensation claim against five men they blame for the outrage rejected claims that full disclosure could threaten national security.
Their application for access to top secret information is based on a television documentary which claimed the British Government's GCHQ monitored calls as the bomb team drove a car packed with explosives into Omagh where 29 people were killed in August 1998.
It is not known if the exchanges which formed the basis of the BBC Panorama programme were listened to live or simply recorded.
The allegations provoked anger among the relatives of those killed, and led to Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordering a three-month intelligence review which is due to be completed this week.
Barristers representing the Security Services, GCHQ, current and former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsmans Al Hutchinson and Nuala O'Loan, and four retired senior police officers all attended the civil action.
Lord Brennan QC, for the Omagh families, said he was "seeking discovery of that which is now well established in the public arena".
Rejecting legal submissions for non-disclosure, he claimed the relevant third parties had not dealt adequately with evidence before the court and relied on generalities about the need for national security.
BY ALAN ERWIN
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
IT would be an "affront to justice" if British intelligence services were not forced to reveal all material linked to mobile phone conversations recorded on the day of the Omagh bombing, the High Court heard yesterday.
Lawyers for victims' relatives who are seeking any tapes, transcripts or notes as part of their multi-million pound compensation claim against five men they blame for the outrage rejected claims that full disclosure could threaten national security.
Their application for access to top secret information is based on a television documentary which claimed the British Government's GCHQ monitored calls as the bomb team drove a car packed with explosives into Omagh where 29 people were killed in August 1998.
It is not known if the exchanges which formed the basis of the BBC Panorama programme were listened to live or simply recorded.
The allegations provoked anger among the relatives of those killed, and led to Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordering a three-month intelligence review which is due to be completed this week.
Barristers representing the Security Services, GCHQ, current and former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsmans Al Hutchinson and Nuala O'Loan, and four retired senior police officers all attended the civil action.
Lord Brennan QC, for the Omagh families, said he was "seeking discovery of that which is now well established in the public arena".
Rejecting legal submissions for non-disclosure, he claimed the relevant third parties had not dealt adequately with evidence before the court and relied on generalities about the need for national security.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/792
Published Date: 16-Dec-08
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