POLICE OMBUDSMAN LAUNCHES BOMB PROBE
Police Ombudsman launches bomb probe
AN OFFICIAL inquiry has begun into claims that an informer gave police information that a bomb attack was being planned by the Real IRA two days before the Omagh bombing of August 15,1998.
The RUC has always denied it had any specific advance warning of a bomb attack, but now the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, is to investigate claims made by a former double agent.
The inquiry was announced on Friday, the same day as The Guardian published a detailed interview with the informer, who used the pseudonym 'Kevin Fulton'.
He alleged he had given an RUC handler a full account of a conversation he had with a man he knew to be a leading bomb maker for the Real IRA.
He spoke of meeting the man in the car park of a public house in Drogheda and noting that his clothing was covered with a pink dust he associated with the grinding down of fertiliser to make explosives.
The next day, Thursday August 13, Fulton said he met his RUC handler and warned him that a bomb attack was imminent, though he did not know the intended target.
Fulton said he gave the RUC man the name of the bombmaker and the registration number of the car he had been driving.
Fulton said that on the day of the explosion he was on holiday in the Canary Islands and telephoned home to be told by his father that a massive bomb had gone off in Omagh.
He claimed he phoned his handler, who assured him the information he had given had been put into the RUC's information system.
Fulton told the Guardian: "The security service or the RUC should have been watching Mike [the alleged bomber]. He should have been put under 24-hour surveillance to monitor whether anything was about to come over the border.
"I've talked to my handler a few times about Omagh. I asked him if he was sure he'd put the information in the system. My handler is someone who does everything by the book. He said he put it into the system and I believe him.
No doubt
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he also believed that the bomb I told him about had been used at Omagh."
But Fulton went on to say that he subsequently met Detective Chief Superintendent Eric Anderson, the man in charge of the RUC enquiry, and he did not seem to know anything about the warning.
"He gave the impression this was the first he'd heard of it."
The claims made by Fulton have been dismissed by the RUC, and indeed his reliability has been openly questioned by many in the media.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan has firmly denied that the RUC had a warning about a bomb in Omagh.
Fulton told The Guardian: "Did I know specifically that a bomb was to go off in Omagh? No I didn't. Did I give the RUC intelligence that the Real IRA was making a major bomb? Yes they did have that.
"The RUC had 48 hours head start, In this business you never have complete control of what you are doing. But, in my view, it is possible that Omagh could have been prevented."
Open mind
The chairman of the Omagh Self Help Group, Mr. Michael Gallagher, who son Adrian was among those killed in the blast, said he had been contacted by Fulton several weeks ago and told of the allegations. He said he was keeping an "open mind" about them.
Mr. Gallagher said he welcomed the Ombudsman's investigation and hoped it would be quick and thorough.
"I believe the Ombudsman is best placed to investigate these claims and it would be wrong of me to prejudge the outcome of this investigation. If it transpires that there were deficiencies in the RUC's system, that that will be very painful to deal with.
"But if these allegations are without foundation, this outcome is also important. We should never lose sight of the fact that the Real IRA financed, planned and delivered this bomb which slaughtered 31 people," he said.
The Ombudsman, meanwhile, said it would not be in the interests of either the public or the police for such specific and damaging allegations to be ignored.
Mrs. O'Loan's comments came in the wake of calls by leading politicians, including former MP Mr. Ken Maginnis, for her to resign.
Mrs. O'Loan said: "My focus is on carrying out the investigation as quickly and rigorously as possible.
Mr. Maginnis claimed the Obudsman's objectives "appear to be intended to embarrass the police rather than look at terrorist activity objectively."
He said there was clear evidence that the information given to the police at the time of the explosion was inadequate and misleading.
"Anyone or any organisation that distracts attention from the enormity of the Real IRA's claim is naive and foolish," said Mr. Maginnis.
The chief constable, meanwhile, said he was confident the investigation would clear the force's name.
"It is an absolutely preposterous suggestion that the RUC knew about this a few days before and did not act on it and if the Ombudsman had not called an investigation, I would have advised her to do so," he said.
And the Secretary of State also condemned the claims, saying there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Sir John Reid said: These are unfounded allegations at present, but they do cause a great deal of distress not only to the relatives, but also to the police service."
AN OFFICIAL inquiry has begun into claims that an informer gave police information that a bomb attack was being planned by the Real IRA two days before the Omagh bombing of August 15,1998.
The RUC has always denied it had any specific advance warning of a bomb attack, but now the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, is to investigate claims made by a former double agent.
The inquiry was announced on Friday, the same day as The Guardian published a detailed interview with the informer, who used the pseudonym 'Kevin Fulton'.
He alleged he had given an RUC handler a full account of a conversation he had with a man he knew to be a leading bomb maker for the Real IRA.
He spoke of meeting the man in the car park of a public house in Drogheda and noting that his clothing was covered with a pink dust he associated with the grinding down of fertiliser to make explosives.
The next day, Thursday August 13, Fulton said he met his RUC handler and warned him that a bomb attack was imminent, though he did not know the intended target.
Fulton said he gave the RUC man the name of the bombmaker and the registration number of the car he had been driving.
Fulton said that on the day of the explosion he was on holiday in the Canary Islands and telephoned home to be told by his father that a massive bomb had gone off in Omagh.
He claimed he phoned his handler, who assured him the information he had given had been put into the RUC's information system.
Fulton told the Guardian: "The security service or the RUC should have been watching Mike [the alleged bomber]. He should have been put under 24-hour surveillance to monitor whether anything was about to come over the border.
"I've talked to my handler a few times about Omagh. I asked him if he was sure he'd put the information in the system. My handler is someone who does everything by the book. He said he put it into the system and I believe him.
No doubt
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he also believed that the bomb I told him about had been used at Omagh."
But Fulton went on to say that he subsequently met Detective Chief Superintendent Eric Anderson, the man in charge of the RUC enquiry, and he did not seem to know anything about the warning.
"He gave the impression this was the first he'd heard of it."
The claims made by Fulton have been dismissed by the RUC, and indeed his reliability has been openly questioned by many in the media.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan has firmly denied that the RUC had a warning about a bomb in Omagh.
Fulton told The Guardian: "Did I know specifically that a bomb was to go off in Omagh? No I didn't. Did I give the RUC intelligence that the Real IRA was making a major bomb? Yes they did have that.
"The RUC had 48 hours head start, In this business you never have complete control of what you are doing. But, in my view, it is possible that Omagh could have been prevented."
Open mind
The chairman of the Omagh Self Help Group, Mr. Michael Gallagher, who son Adrian was among those killed in the blast, said he had been contacted by Fulton several weeks ago and told of the allegations. He said he was keeping an "open mind" about them.
Mr. Gallagher said he welcomed the Ombudsman's investigation and hoped it would be quick and thorough.
"I believe the Ombudsman is best placed to investigate these claims and it would be wrong of me to prejudge the outcome of this investigation. If it transpires that there were deficiencies in the RUC's system, that that will be very painful to deal with.
"But if these allegations are without foundation, this outcome is also important. We should never lose sight of the fact that the Real IRA financed, planned and delivered this bomb which slaughtered 31 people," he said.
The Ombudsman, meanwhile, said it would not be in the interests of either the public or the police for such specific and damaging allegations to be ignored.
Mrs. O'Loan's comments came in the wake of calls by leading politicians, including former MP Mr. Ken Maginnis, for her to resign.
Mrs. O'Loan said: "My focus is on carrying out the investigation as quickly and rigorously as possible.
Mr. Maginnis claimed the Obudsman's objectives "appear to be intended to embarrass the police rather than look at terrorist activity objectively."
He said there was clear evidence that the information given to the police at the time of the explosion was inadequate and misleading.
"Anyone or any organisation that distracts attention from the enormity of the Real IRA's claim is naive and foolish," said Mr. Maginnis.
The chief constable, meanwhile, said he was confident the investigation would clear the force's name.
"It is an absolutely preposterous suggestion that the RUC knew about this a few days before and did not act on it and if the Ombudsman had not called an investigation, I would have advised her to do so," he said.
And the Secretary of State also condemned the claims, saying there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Sir John Reid said: These are unfounded allegations at present, but they do cause a great deal of distress not only to the relatives, but also to the police service."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0928
Published Date: 23-Aug-01
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