OMAGH KILLER SITTING ON A CANCER TIMEBOMB
OMAGH KILLER 'SITTING ON CANCER TIMEBOMB'
A SLOW, lingering death may await the man who built the Omagh bomb that massacred 29 innocent people.
Real IRA bomb makers have contracted potentially fatal cancers, and their past terror activities are said to be the reason.
Unable to obtain large quantities of high explosive, Real IRA bombers have been forced to rely on so-called 'Co-Op mix' - an inert blend of ammonium nitrate-based farm fertiliser and diesel fuel. Substantial quantities of this are required to assemble a bomb of the size used in the Omagh massacre, which was detonated by a smaller amount of commercial blasting explosive or Semtex.
But the main ingredient of Real IRA bombs - ammonium nitrate - is a recognised cancer-causing agent if wrongly handled.
Several days before the Omagh atrocity, the Real IRA terrorist said to have built the bomb was seen in Dundalk - his clothing, hands and face covered in pink dust from handling the deadly chemical mix. Scientific opinion suggests his 'work' will be, literally, killing him slowly.
Last year, Real IRA prisoner Kevin Murray - an inmate in Portlaoise prison - died suddenly from brain cancer. Two other senior figures from the border area have now also been diagnosed with cancer. Illness of a different sort has also confronted the Real IRA's alleged chief-of-staff, Michael McKevitt, and his brother, Vincent Michael McKevitt, both in Portlaoise.
The former, charged with directing terrorism, suffers from dangerously high blood pressure.
He is currently awaiting trial, primarily on the evidence of an American MI5/FBI agent.
The latter, in the same prison as his brother and charged with RIRA membership, had a heart attack earlier this year.
A SLOW, lingering death may await the man who built the Omagh bomb that massacred 29 innocent people.
Real IRA bomb makers have contracted potentially fatal cancers, and their past terror activities are said to be the reason.
Unable to obtain large quantities of high explosive, Real IRA bombers have been forced to rely on so-called 'Co-Op mix' - an inert blend of ammonium nitrate-based farm fertiliser and diesel fuel. Substantial quantities of this are required to assemble a bomb of the size used in the Omagh massacre, which was detonated by a smaller amount of commercial blasting explosive or Semtex.
But the main ingredient of Real IRA bombs - ammonium nitrate - is a recognised cancer-causing agent if wrongly handled.
Several days before the Omagh atrocity, the Real IRA terrorist said to have built the bomb was seen in Dundalk - his clothing, hands and face covered in pink dust from handling the deadly chemical mix. Scientific opinion suggests his 'work' will be, literally, killing him slowly.
Last year, Real IRA prisoner Kevin Murray - an inmate in Portlaoise prison - died suddenly from brain cancer. Two other senior figures from the border area have now also been diagnosed with cancer. Illness of a different sort has also confronted the Real IRA's alleged chief-of-staff, Michael McKevitt, and his brother, Vincent Michael McKevitt, both in Portlaoise.
The former, charged with directing terrorism, suffers from dangerously high blood pressure.
He is currently awaiting trial, primarily on the evidence of an American MI5/FBI agent.
The latter, in the same prison as his brother and charged with RIRA membership, had a heart attack earlier this year.
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/128
Published Date: 02-Jul-02
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