MPS HIT OUT AT BRITISH GOVERNMENT OVER UNACCEPTABLE BOMB PROBE
MPs hit out at British Government over unacceptable bomb probe
BY RONAN McSHERRY
THE British government has been slammed for their response to the Omagh bomb probe in a report published by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Thursday.
The report titled, "The Omagh bombing: some remaining questions' was compiled by a 12-strong committee of MPs including the North Down Independent Sylvia Hermon, Dr Alasdair McDonnell of the SDLP and the DUP's David Simpson.
Twenty-nine people, including a mother pregnant with twins, died in the Real IRA attack in Omagh in August 1998. No-one has been convicted of the murders.
The committee's report called for clarification about whether a public inquiry into the 1998 Real IRA blast would be ordered.
The committee has called for a fresh investigation into whether the state withheld vital information from detectives hunting the Omagh bombers.
Key questions which needed to be addressed include whether the attack could have been prevented and whether enough was done to catch the killers after the explosion.
The committee undertook an inquiry into the security services' role after claims in a BBC Panorama documentary that the government's listening station GCHQ had monitored suspects' mobile phone calls as they drove to Omagh from the Irish Republic on the day of the atrocity.
The Panorama programme said this information was never passed to Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) detectives assigned to the case.
It branded unreasonable Prime Minister Gordon Brown's refusal to allow the committee chairman access to a full report by intelligence chief Sir Peter Gibson on intercept intelligence available at the time of the explosion.
Thursday's report said members remained of the view that this refusal is unacceptable, and again asked that the Gibson review of intelligence intercepts on the Omagh bombing be made available to the chairman.
The government said it would await the outcome of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and a separate review on dealing with the past before deciding on a public inquiry for Omagh.
BY RONAN McSHERRY
THE British government has been slammed for their response to the Omagh bomb probe in a report published by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Thursday.
The report titled, "The Omagh bombing: some remaining questions' was compiled by a 12-strong committee of MPs including the North Down Independent Sylvia Hermon, Dr Alasdair McDonnell of the SDLP and the DUP's David Simpson.
Twenty-nine people, including a mother pregnant with twins, died in the Real IRA attack in Omagh in August 1998. No-one has been convicted of the murders.
The committee's report called for clarification about whether a public inquiry into the 1998 Real IRA blast would be ordered.
The committee has called for a fresh investigation into whether the state withheld vital information from detectives hunting the Omagh bombers.
Key questions which needed to be addressed include whether the attack could have been prevented and whether enough was done to catch the killers after the explosion.
The committee undertook an inquiry into the security services' role after claims in a BBC Panorama documentary that the government's listening station GCHQ had monitored suspects' mobile phone calls as they drove to Omagh from the Irish Republic on the day of the atrocity.
The Panorama programme said this information was never passed to Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) detectives assigned to the case.
It branded unreasonable Prime Minister Gordon Brown's refusal to allow the committee chairman access to a full report by intelligence chief Sir Peter Gibson on intercept intelligence available at the time of the explosion.
Thursday's report said members remained of the view that this refusal is unacceptable, and again asked that the Gibson review of intelligence intercepts on the Omagh bombing be made available to the chairman.
The government said it would await the outcome of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and a separate review on dealing with the past before deciding on a public inquiry for Omagh.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/094
Published Date: 12-Apr-10
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