IRA: WE WILL HUNT AND KILL BOMBERS
IRA: We will hunt and kill bombers
By JEFF EDWARDS in Northern Ireland
THE terrorists who carried out the Omagh bombing were on the run last night - sentenced to death by their former Provo friends.
A senior Republican said: "They will pay the ultimate price. Those who did it are dead men walking."
Members of the Provisional IRA issued an immediate "death warrant" on the renegades from the breakaway Real IRA and are understood to have ordered colleagues to hunt them down and eliminate them.
Sources in the RUC and the Garda Siochana - the Irish police - said the RIRA gang were believed to be hiding in border towns in County Louth and neighbouring County Monaghan.
An RUC source said: "There is a power struggle in Republican ranks - a turf war that is sure to end in more bloodshed."
The RIRA are fanatics whose mission is to wreck the peace process, believing that only through bombing and shooting can they achieve a united Ireland.
Security forces believe the decision to massacre civilians in Omagh was a ruthless move to gain the attention of the world.
In recent weeks the group set off bombs in neighbouring Banbridge and Markethill and other towns, causing heavy damage.
They suffered serious setbacks when a bombing team was seized by police in London last month and a car packed with explosives was intercepted on its way to Britain just before the Grand National.
In January a tonne-and-a-half of homemade explosive on the way to Britain was seized near Dublin.
An RUC source said: "They have carried out a series of attacks and had some failures. They were not being taken seriously.
"Their answer was to commit mass murder on innocent civilians."
The political wing of the Real IRA is the 32 County Sovereignty Committee.
One of the committee's most influential members is Michael McKevitt, who is married to Bernadette Sands. Her brother Bobby became a Republican legend when he died on hunger strike.
The Real IRA - dubbed Surreal IRA by some mainstream Republicans - split from the Provos this year.
Security sources warned that the man who formed RIRA is prepared to kill again and again to try to end the peace process.
One said: '"He is a ruthless, uncompromising bastard who has no qualms about what he is doing." At one time he was the Provos' top quartermaster in charge of all the explosives and arms hideouts on both sides of the border.
A leading Sinn Fein member met him but failed to talk him out of his campaign. A security source said: "He is prepared to do anything. He is his own man, who isn't prepared to listen. He has no feelings because he believes the war should not have stopped.
"He believes the IRA got where they are through force so why stop now when they can keep putting the pressure on the British?"
Many of the estimated 100 RIRA members are long-serving former Provos, including notorious killers.
Many in the group are expert bomb-makers who use the latest technology in their devices. They are believed to have control of at least half a tonne of Semtex, detonators and timers, mortars and rocket propelled grenades.
Police believe the RIRA is planning to strike here again. Scotland Yard Special Branch says they have carried out reconnaissance of targets in London and elsewhere.
By JEFF EDWARDS in Northern Ireland
THE terrorists who carried out the Omagh bombing were on the run last night - sentenced to death by their former Provo friends.
A senior Republican said: "They will pay the ultimate price. Those who did it are dead men walking."
Members of the Provisional IRA issued an immediate "death warrant" on the renegades from the breakaway Real IRA and are understood to have ordered colleagues to hunt them down and eliminate them.
Sources in the RUC and the Garda Siochana - the Irish police - said the RIRA gang were believed to be hiding in border towns in County Louth and neighbouring County Monaghan.
An RUC source said: "There is a power struggle in Republican ranks - a turf war that is sure to end in more bloodshed."
The RIRA are fanatics whose mission is to wreck the peace process, believing that only through bombing and shooting can they achieve a united Ireland.
Security forces believe the decision to massacre civilians in Omagh was a ruthless move to gain the attention of the world.
In recent weeks the group set off bombs in neighbouring Banbridge and Markethill and other towns, causing heavy damage.
They suffered serious setbacks when a bombing team was seized by police in London last month and a car packed with explosives was intercepted on its way to Britain just before the Grand National.
In January a tonne-and-a-half of homemade explosive on the way to Britain was seized near Dublin.
An RUC source said: "They have carried out a series of attacks and had some failures. They were not being taken seriously.
"Their answer was to commit mass murder on innocent civilians."
The political wing of the Real IRA is the 32 County Sovereignty Committee.
One of the committee's most influential members is Michael McKevitt, who is married to Bernadette Sands. Her brother Bobby became a Republican legend when he died on hunger strike.
The Real IRA - dubbed Surreal IRA by some mainstream Republicans - split from the Provos this year.
Security sources warned that the man who formed RIRA is prepared to kill again and again to try to end the peace process.
One said: '"He is a ruthless, uncompromising bastard who has no qualms about what he is doing." At one time he was the Provos' top quartermaster in charge of all the explosives and arms hideouts on both sides of the border.
A leading Sinn Fein member met him but failed to talk him out of his campaign. A security source said: "He is prepared to do anything. He is his own man, who isn't prepared to listen. He has no feelings because he believes the war should not have stopped.
"He believes the IRA got where they are through force so why stop now when they can keep putting the pressure on the British?"
Many of the estimated 100 RIRA members are long-serving former Provos, including notorious killers.
Many in the group are expert bomb-makers who use the latest technology in their devices. They are believed to have control of at least half a tonne of Semtex, detonators and timers, mortars and rocket propelled grenades.
Police believe the RIRA is planning to strike here again. Scotland Yard Special Branch says they have carried out reconnaissance of targets in London and elsewhere.
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/009
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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