CHILDREN USED AS DECOYS IN OMAGH BOMB ATTACK, REPORT CLAIMS
Children used as decoys in Omagh bomb attack, report claims
CHILDREN may have been used as cover for the look-outs working for the terrorists who bombed Omagh, it was revealed this week.
As Chief Constable Hugh Orde examined a highly critical new report of the work of Special Branch, it emerged that three young boys were in the back of a car driven by a man whom police believe could have been scouting for the gang.
They were spotted parked on a grass verge on the outskirts of the town in the hours before the August 1998 Real IRA attack.
It is understood at least two witnesses have told investigating detectives they saw children playing beside a blue Corsa or Nova while a group of men, one wearing a rugby shirt, leaned across the roof examining a map.
SLUMPED
Parked nearby, outside a meat plant on Omagh's Dublin Road, two miles from the town centre, was a red Vauxhall Cavalier the same type of car which carried the huge bomb with a man slumped in the front passenger seat.
According to another witness the terrorist who later abandoned the Cavalier in Market Street was also wearing a rugby top.
Three young boys were also spotted in the back of the second car, and although a direct link has yet to be established, detectives are investigating the possibility this may have been a scout car with the children as rear seat passengers to help the terrorists bluff their way past any security checkpoints.
Speaking in Belfast, Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid, the officer heading up the new inquiry into Omagh confirmed: "We are still trying to identify any scout cars that accompanied the car carrying the bomb. There is every possibility that the occupants of such a car would have tried hard to look inconspicuous."
The Republic's Taoiseach Bertie Ahern denied his government was involved in any deal with the dissident republican group after the bomb. He rejected claims that none of the suspects would be charged in return for a ceasefire.
INVESTIGATION WIDENED
The police confirmed the fresh investigation has been widened in a move to try and track down the bombers.
Nearly 20 other terrorist attacks which happened in the run-up to the outrage, all of them linked to the Real IRA, are being investigated as part of the same inquiry.
Even though detectives have identified the men they suspect were responsible there is insufficient evidence at this stage to charge them.
SAME TEAM OF BOMBERS
Bomb attacks in Moira, Enniskillen, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh and Banbridge a fortnight before Omagh, are believed to involve more or less the same team.
Assistant Chief Constable Kinkaid said "We are determined to catch the people who bombed Omagh. I cannot tell the families we will get the bombers, but I can promise we will do our professional best."
CHILDREN may have been used as cover for the look-outs working for the terrorists who bombed Omagh, it was revealed this week.
As Chief Constable Hugh Orde examined a highly critical new report of the work of Special Branch, it emerged that three young boys were in the back of a car driven by a man whom police believe could have been scouting for the gang.
They were spotted parked on a grass verge on the outskirts of the town in the hours before the August 1998 Real IRA attack.
It is understood at least two witnesses have told investigating detectives they saw children playing beside a blue Corsa or Nova while a group of men, one wearing a rugby shirt, leaned across the roof examining a map.
SLUMPED
Parked nearby, outside a meat plant on Omagh's Dublin Road, two miles from the town centre, was a red Vauxhall Cavalier the same type of car which carried the huge bomb with a man slumped in the front passenger seat.
According to another witness the terrorist who later abandoned the Cavalier in Market Street was also wearing a rugby top.
Three young boys were also spotted in the back of the second car, and although a direct link has yet to be established, detectives are investigating the possibility this may have been a scout car with the children as rear seat passengers to help the terrorists bluff their way past any security checkpoints.
Speaking in Belfast, Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid, the officer heading up the new inquiry into Omagh confirmed: "We are still trying to identify any scout cars that accompanied the car carrying the bomb. There is every possibility that the occupants of such a car would have tried hard to look inconspicuous."
The Republic's Taoiseach Bertie Ahern denied his government was involved in any deal with the dissident republican group after the bomb. He rejected claims that none of the suspects would be charged in return for a ceasefire.
INVESTIGATION WIDENED
The police confirmed the fresh investigation has been widened in a move to try and track down the bombers.
Nearly 20 other terrorist attacks which happened in the run-up to the outrage, all of them linked to the Real IRA, are being investigated as part of the same inquiry.
Even though detectives have identified the men they suspect were responsible there is insufficient evidence at this stage to charge them.
SAME TEAM OF BOMBERS
Bomb attacks in Moira, Enniskillen, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh and Banbridge a fortnight before Omagh, are believed to involve more or less the same team.
Assistant Chief Constable Kinkaid said "We are determined to catch the people who bombed Omagh. I cannot tell the families we will get the bombers, but I can promise we will do our professional best."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1116
Published Date: 07-Nov-02
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