OMAGH FAMILIES HOLD TALKS WITH GORDON BROWN
Omagh families hold talks with Gordon Brown
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
RELATIVES of the 31 people, including unborn twins, killed in the Omagh bomb atrocity met with the British Prime Minister in Downing Street yesterday afternoon to discuss alleged failings by the security services both before and after the attack. They travelled to London to meet Gordon Brown over claims that vital intelligence on the bombers was withheld from police. Last year the BBC Panorama programme claimed that the government's listening station GCHQ had tracked the bombers on the day of the atrocity but failed to alert police.
However, this allegation was rebutted last month by a government-commissioned inquiry carried out by Intelligence Commissioner Sir Peter Gibson. The Omagh families and the BBC are unhappy with Sir Peter's findings. The families say nothing less than a full independent enquiry will lay bare the facts surrounding the Real IRA attack. Chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Group, Michael Gallagher told the Ulster Herald, "I have not met anybody who was impressed with what Sir Peter said. He did not address the central part of the programme which asked why all available information was not passed on.
"We see it as a very limited internal enquiry with a particular purpose in mind and that is to exonerate the people that are at fault here. It is people being asked to investigate themselves. The system is not going to condemn the system. We need international people from outside Britain and Ireland on this who have no have no agenda or axe to grind. Obviously they fear certain things being revealed and we are trying to get to the bottom of what they are. There is no doubt in my mind they will try and close the book on this entirely and try and do everything possible to avoid an enquiry into Omagh."
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
RELATIVES of the 31 people, including unborn twins, killed in the Omagh bomb atrocity met with the British Prime Minister in Downing Street yesterday afternoon to discuss alleged failings by the security services both before and after the attack. They travelled to London to meet Gordon Brown over claims that vital intelligence on the bombers was withheld from police. Last year the BBC Panorama programme claimed that the government's listening station GCHQ had tracked the bombers on the day of the atrocity but failed to alert police.
However, this allegation was rebutted last month by a government-commissioned inquiry carried out by Intelligence Commissioner Sir Peter Gibson. The Omagh families and the BBC are unhappy with Sir Peter's findings. The families say nothing less than a full independent enquiry will lay bare the facts surrounding the Real IRA attack. Chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Group, Michael Gallagher told the Ulster Herald, "I have not met anybody who was impressed with what Sir Peter said. He did not address the central part of the programme which asked why all available information was not passed on.
"We see it as a very limited internal enquiry with a particular purpose in mind and that is to exonerate the people that are at fault here. It is people being asked to investigate themselves. The system is not going to condemn the system. We need international people from outside Britain and Ireland on this who have no have no agenda or axe to grind. Obviously they fear certain things being revealed and we are trying to get to the bottom of what they are. There is no doubt in my mind they will try and close the book on this entirely and try and do everything possible to avoid an enquiry into Omagh."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1975
Published Date: 12-Feb-09
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