PROBE LAUNCHED INTO OMAGH- GATE CLAIM
PROBE LAUNCHED INTO 'OMAGH-GATE' CLAIM
Police accused of having info three days before explosion
THE Police Ombudsman has launched a probe into 'Omagh-gate' allegations that the RUC was given three days' advance warning of the bomb outrage. Detectives working for the Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, last week interviewed an RUC double-agent, who claims he told his Special Branch handler 72 hours before the Real IRA atrocity, which killed 29 people.
The agent - who uses the pseudonym 'Kevin Fulton' - alleges the RUC didn't act on his tip-off in order to protect another informer.
The independent police watchdog is also keen to examine a tape-recording of a phonecall between 'Fulton' and his handler.
The Ombudsman may also request to see the officer's notebook, which is believed to contain dates and times of secret contacts with the agent.
RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan has already rejected the informer's claims, saying they only add to the anguish of the bereaved.
He has appointed Assistant Chief Constable, Sam Kinkaid to probe the allegations. The Government is also concerned that the Ombudsman's inquiry is limited to the 1998 bombing. The security services fear that, unless Ms O'Loan's remit is strictly-defined, her investigation could unwittingly compromise other agents still in the field.
The Army's shadowy Force Research Unit (FRU) ran both loyalist and republican double-agents throughout the Troubles.
One FRU officer - who has since been honoured by the Queen - allegedly sacrificed Catholic pensioner Francisco Notorantonio to protect an agent's cover. Mr Notorantonio, 66, was shot dead by UDA assassins, as he lay sleeping with his wife at their west Belfast home in October 1987. The intelligence officer is alleged to have sanctioned the murder to protect the Army's highest-placed Provo spy codenamed 'Stakeknife'.
One security source told Sunday Life: "Our fear is that, if the Police Ombudsman's inquiry extends beyond these allegations about Omagh, it could end up compromising other intelligence assets still in place.
"The IRA may notionally be on ceasefire, but anyone exposed as working for the security services could expect no mercy."
Added the source: "It's all very well starting these things, but it's a different story knowing where they will end.
"Once the genie's out of the bottle, it's sometimes difficult to put it back in again."
According to the Sunday People newspaper, 'Fulton' told the Stevens Inquiry that he passed information about the Omagh bomb to his Special Branch handler, three days before the 500lb device was spirited across the border.
He alleges that he told them: WHO mixed the bomb, and; WHERE it was assembled.
But he claims the RUC didn't act on the information in order to protect another 'asset' within the Real-IRA.
'Fulton' has previously claimed that he supplied the RUC with high-grade intelligence while a member of the IRA 'active-service unit' (ASU) which murdered Constable Colleen McMurray in Newry in 1992.
Her colleague, Constable George Slane, lost both legs in the mortar attack and is confined to a wheelchair.
Police accused of having info three days before explosion
THE Police Ombudsman has launched a probe into 'Omagh-gate' allegations that the RUC was given three days' advance warning of the bomb outrage. Detectives working for the Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, last week interviewed an RUC double-agent, who claims he told his Special Branch handler 72 hours before the Real IRA atrocity, which killed 29 people.
The agent - who uses the pseudonym 'Kevin Fulton' - alleges the RUC didn't act on his tip-off in order to protect another informer.
The independent police watchdog is also keen to examine a tape-recording of a phonecall between 'Fulton' and his handler.
The Ombudsman may also request to see the officer's notebook, which is believed to contain dates and times of secret contacts with the agent.
RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan has already rejected the informer's claims, saying they only add to the anguish of the bereaved.
He has appointed Assistant Chief Constable, Sam Kinkaid to probe the allegations. The Government is also concerned that the Ombudsman's inquiry is limited to the 1998 bombing. The security services fear that, unless Ms O'Loan's remit is strictly-defined, her investigation could unwittingly compromise other agents still in the field.
The Army's shadowy Force Research Unit (FRU) ran both loyalist and republican double-agents throughout the Troubles.
One FRU officer - who has since been honoured by the Queen - allegedly sacrificed Catholic pensioner Francisco Notorantonio to protect an agent's cover. Mr Notorantonio, 66, was shot dead by UDA assassins, as he lay sleeping with his wife at their west Belfast home in October 1987. The intelligence officer is alleged to have sanctioned the murder to protect the Army's highest-placed Provo spy codenamed 'Stakeknife'.
One security source told Sunday Life: "Our fear is that, if the Police Ombudsman's inquiry extends beyond these allegations about Omagh, it could end up compromising other intelligence assets still in place.
"The IRA may notionally be on ceasefire, but anyone exposed as working for the security services could expect no mercy."
Added the source: "It's all very well starting these things, but it's a different story knowing where they will end.
"Once the genie's out of the bottle, it's sometimes difficult to put it back in again."
According to the Sunday People newspaper, 'Fulton' told the Stevens Inquiry that he passed information about the Omagh bomb to his Special Branch handler, three days before the 500lb device was spirited across the border.
He alleges that he told them: WHO mixed the bomb, and; WHERE it was assembled.
But he claims the RUC didn't act on the information in order to protect another 'asset' within the Real-IRA.
'Fulton' has previously claimed that he supplied the RUC with high-grade intelligence while a member of the IRA 'active-service unit' (ASU) which murdered Constable Colleen McMurray in Newry in 1992.
Her colleague, Constable George Slane, lost both legs in the mortar attack and is confined to a wheelchair.
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/118
Published Date: 12-Aug-01
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