THE WORDS THAT COULD HAVE SAVED OMAGH
THE WORDS THAT MIGHT HAVE SAVED OMAGH
BY MICHAEL DEVLIN
THERE are increased calls for a public inquiry into the Omagh bombing atrocity after it was claimed intelligence chiefs recorded the bombers' mobile phones on the day of the attack.
A BBC Panorama programme titled Omagh - What the Police Were Never Told will tonight allege that Britain's electronic intelligence agency GCHQ recorded the bombers' conversations as they drove into the town.
This is a claim confirmed by the former Assistant Chief Constable for the Northern Ireland Police Service, Ray White.
A mobile used in a bomb attack weeks earlier had been 'cracked' by the security services and GCHQ was tasked with listening in 'live' to calls made on it.
The bomber used the same phone to co-ordinate the Omagh attack and even used the same code words.
However, it is unknown if GCHQ could have helped prevent the bombing as it is unclear whether or not it was listening live to the conversations or merely recording them.
Moreover, Ray White has allegedly informed the Panorama team that the Special Branch officer responsible for soliciting GCHQ's assistance was adamant he had asked for live monitoring. As Panorama will suggest, if intelligence officials had been listening live, there were clues in the conversations, albeit coded, which could have acted as warnings. Even if GCHQ could not have prevented the bomb from exploding, more should have been done to help the investigation.
Commenting on the BBC's findings, Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, said the British Government can no longer resist establishing a public enquiry.
"We have been demanding a public inquiry since 2002 into the abysmal failure of the police inquiries," Mr Gallagher told the BBC. "In all conscience the government can no longer resist this."
After the car bomb exploded, Panorama says, Special Branch asked GCHQ what happened and was told, "We missed it."
The fact that the bombers had used mobile phones, and that GCHQ had voice recordings and their telephone numbers, was withheld.
Reacting to the news, the former Northern Ireland police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, said, "There are a very limited number of access routes to Omagh town. And if they came to the view that that was where a device was being taken, it would seem to me there could have been roadblocks set up.
"Roadblocks in the past have had the effect of deterring people who would have planted bombs.
"They would have seen this and would have just abandoned the bombs by the roadside." Omagh - What the Police Were Never Told will be aired on BBC ONE at 8.30pm tonight (Monday).
BY MICHAEL DEVLIN
THERE are increased calls for a public inquiry into the Omagh bombing atrocity after it was claimed intelligence chiefs recorded the bombers' mobile phones on the day of the attack.
A BBC Panorama programme titled Omagh - What the Police Were Never Told will tonight allege that Britain's electronic intelligence agency GCHQ recorded the bombers' conversations as they drove into the town.
This is a claim confirmed by the former Assistant Chief Constable for the Northern Ireland Police Service, Ray White.
A mobile used in a bomb attack weeks earlier had been 'cracked' by the security services and GCHQ was tasked with listening in 'live' to calls made on it.
The bomber used the same phone to co-ordinate the Omagh attack and even used the same code words.
However, it is unknown if GCHQ could have helped prevent the bombing as it is unclear whether or not it was listening live to the conversations or merely recording them.
Moreover, Ray White has allegedly informed the Panorama team that the Special Branch officer responsible for soliciting GCHQ's assistance was adamant he had asked for live monitoring. As Panorama will suggest, if intelligence officials had been listening live, there were clues in the conversations, albeit coded, which could have acted as warnings. Even if GCHQ could not have prevented the bomb from exploding, more should have been done to help the investigation.
Commenting on the BBC's findings, Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, said the British Government can no longer resist establishing a public enquiry.
"We have been demanding a public inquiry since 2002 into the abysmal failure of the police inquiries," Mr Gallagher told the BBC. "In all conscience the government can no longer resist this."
After the car bomb exploded, Panorama says, Special Branch asked GCHQ what happened and was told, "We missed it."
The fact that the bombers had used mobile phones, and that GCHQ had voice recordings and their telephone numbers, was withheld.
Reacting to the news, the former Northern Ireland police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, said, "There are a very limited number of access routes to Omagh town. And if they came to the view that that was where a device was being taken, it would seem to me there could have been roadblocks set up.
"Roadblocks in the past have had the effect of deterring people who would have planted bombs.
"They would have seen this and would have just abandoned the bombs by the roadside." Omagh - What the Police Were Never Told will be aired on BBC ONE at 8.30pm tonight (Monday).
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/076
Published Date: 15-Sep-08
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