GARDAI DRAW UP TERROR HIT-LIST AS NET CLOSES ON OMAGH MURDERERS
Gardai draw up terror hit-list as net closes on Omagh murderers
by Brian Carroll and Greg Harkin
A GARDA hit-list of over 20 Real IRA hardliners has been drawn up and Special Branch detectives hope to arrest all the organisation's main players in the Republic ahead of President Bill Clinton's arrival in Ireland next month.
As gardai widened their investigation along border towns last night, the RUC were closing the net on the Omagh mass-murderers.
RUC detectives say two men were seen leaving the stolen maroon Vauxhall Cavalier in Market Street in the centre of Omagh around 2.30pm last Saturday. The suspects mingled with the crowd and escaped from, the area in a green Rover 200 series car just minutes later - leaving 28 people to die. That would have given them plenty of time to drive the 15 miles to the nearest Border crossing into Co Monaghan - the same county where the car was stolen. The RUC last night issued an urgent appeal for anyone who saw either the Cavalier in the days before the bombing or the Rover 200 car to get in touch
Meanwhile, a Dublin father in his late 30s will be top of the garda list as the Real IRA's chief bomb-maker. A hardline fundamentalist republican from the southside of the capital, his technical knowledge transformed the Real IRA from a hit-and-miss organisation prone to garda infiltration into a lethal terrorist group.
This man was head of the IRA's engineering unit and brought several key bomb-makers with him. He is believed to have assembled most of the Real IRA's car bombs since March this year and faces up to 10 years in prison for training personnel in the use of firearms and explosives.
The Dundalk-based leader of the Real IRA and a Co. Louth woman will also be arrested once the legislation is available. They could face maximum life sentences if convicted of directing a terrorist organisation.
Gardai will also move on a convicted terrorist from Cork. The former member of the Irish defence forces worked as a national organiser and fundraiser for the group and is under investigation for allegedly operating a lotto scam in the name of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee.
A former IRA regional quartermaster from Fermoy, in Co. Cork, is also on the list. He could face a maximum 10-year sentence. A Limerick city based Provo will also be targeted. The 45-year-old married father of three was a key IRA operative and controlled arms dumps in West Limerick.
Gardai raided houses of known sympathisers of the 32-County Sovereignty group and the Real IRA last Saturday in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing. However, security sources now believe the bomb was assembled in the RUC-British Army no-go zone of South Armagh.
The garda hit-list will also take in other operatives in Dundalk, where the vast majority of the Real IRA are based.
Special branch detectives will also target other Real IRA men in Dublin.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
by Brian Carroll and Greg Harkin
A GARDA hit-list of over 20 Real IRA hardliners has been drawn up and Special Branch detectives hope to arrest all the organisation's main players in the Republic ahead of President Bill Clinton's arrival in Ireland next month.
As gardai widened their investigation along border towns last night, the RUC were closing the net on the Omagh mass-murderers.
RUC detectives say two men were seen leaving the stolen maroon Vauxhall Cavalier in Market Street in the centre of Omagh around 2.30pm last Saturday. The suspects mingled with the crowd and escaped from, the area in a green Rover 200 series car just minutes later - leaving 28 people to die. That would have given them plenty of time to drive the 15 miles to the nearest Border crossing into Co Monaghan - the same county where the car was stolen. The RUC last night issued an urgent appeal for anyone who saw either the Cavalier in the days before the bombing or the Rover 200 car to get in touch
Meanwhile, a Dublin father in his late 30s will be top of the garda list as the Real IRA's chief bomb-maker. A hardline fundamentalist republican from the southside of the capital, his technical knowledge transformed the Real IRA from a hit-and-miss organisation prone to garda infiltration into a lethal terrorist group.
This man was head of the IRA's engineering unit and brought several key bomb-makers with him. He is believed to have assembled most of the Real IRA's car bombs since March this year and faces up to 10 years in prison for training personnel in the use of firearms and explosives.
The Dundalk-based leader of the Real IRA and a Co. Louth woman will also be arrested once the legislation is available. They could face maximum life sentences if convicted of directing a terrorist organisation.
Gardai will also move on a convicted terrorist from Cork. The former member of the Irish defence forces worked as a national organiser and fundraiser for the group and is under investigation for allegedly operating a lotto scam in the name of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee.
A former IRA regional quartermaster from Fermoy, in Co. Cork, is also on the list. He could face a maximum 10-year sentence. A Limerick city based Provo will also be targeted. The 45-year-old married father of three was a key IRA operative and controlled arms dumps in West Limerick.
Gardai raided houses of known sympathisers of the 32-County Sovereignty group and the Real IRA last Saturday in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing. However, security sources now believe the bomb was assembled in the RUC-British Army no-go zone of South Armagh.
The garda hit-list will also take in other operatives in Dundalk, where the vast majority of the Real IRA are based.
Special branch detectives will also target other Real IRA men in Dublin.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/125
Published Date: 21-Aug-98
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