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Pressure to dilute Omagh bomb report

Rosie Cowan and Nick Hopkins | 08.12.2001 03:32


The Northern Ireland police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, was last night resisting intense pressure to delay or tone down her devastating report into the Omagh bombing.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,615455,00.html
Pressure to dilute Omagh bomb report

Ombudsman stands firm · Relatives reject police claim on
warnings

Rosie Cowan and Nick Hopkins
Saturday December 8, 2001
The Guardian

The Northern Ireland police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, was last night resisting intense pressure to delay or tone down her devastating report into the Omagh bombing.

As the province was plunged into ferment over the disclosures that two warnings were received before the atrocity, and relatives of the 29 victims demanded a public inquiry, the chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, and John Reid, the secretary of state, were forced into a counter-offensive.

Both men are aware of the immense damage the report could do to public confidence in the police and internal morale at a time when the force is undergoing reform.

While Sir Ronnie has dropped legal attempts to have the report delayed by two weeks, he refused to meet yesterday's deadline to give his official response to the draft copy, given to him 10 days ago.

Instead, he vehemently defended the force's special branch for not passing on intelligence about at least one warning to officers on the ground, and denied it could have led to the bomb being intercepted. But he did not explain why until Thursday he had consistently described evidence that there had been warnings of an attack as "rubbish, outrageous untruths and without
foundation".

Last week, two days after he received the report, he revealed his intention to retire next spring. Yesterday he furiously denied any suggestion that this had anything to do with the Omagh inquiry.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Adrian died in the blast, said: "We expect certain standards and certain procedures in police work and counter-terrorism. These people have built up a certain amount of experience over 30 years and if these allegations are true, they have blundered massively.

"We will wait to see the full report, but if these are correct, we will want to ask those involved in counter-terrorism who they are trying to protect."

Yesterday relatives of the dead, including Mr Gallagher, were invited to a private meeting with police officers, who tried to play down the significance of the information given by double agent Kevin Fulton. He tipped off his RUC handler three days before the outrage, that a known terrorist was making a bomb destined for somewhere in Northern Ireland. But the families refused to accept the explanation. Mr Gallagher said the ombudsman's inquiry would never have been launched but for Mr Fulton coming forward. At the time of the bombing he had the highest grading possible for the quality of
information to his RUC handlers.

Supt James Baxter, the sub-divisional commander in charge of the Omagh area, offered to resign during yesterday's meeting. But relatives sympathised with his position and thought he was a pawn in a bigger game. Special branch did not inform him about either warning.

Mr Reid denied that there had been a specific bomb warning before Omagh, and tried to deflect anger towards the media and those who leaked the report.

Mrs O'Loan, who is on a business trip to New York, yes terday assured her investigators that she was 100% behind their findings and would not bow to demands, from whatever quarter, to postpone or dilute the report, due to be published next Wednesday.

Her report will not say there was a warning about a bomb in Omagh, but that 11 days before the explosion an anonymous caller said police in the town would be targeted with some form of gun and mortar attack on August 15, the
day the device went off. She regards this as only one element of her significant findings, and nothing Sir Ronnie or Mr Reid said yesterday swayed her from her belief that the report is as accurate as it can be.

The ombudsman has dismissed Sir Ronnie's demand for more time to respond. She is adamant that he has had long enough, given that he has been aware of the warning 11 days before Omagh for at least 18 months. It was uncovered in a police review of the murder inquiry, whose 250 recommendations were largely ignored.

Neither side was prepared to back down yesterday. The publication of the report will be a defining moment for the future of policing in Northern Ireland, and is likely to take the scalp of either the chief constable or Mrs O'Loan.

Unionists and representatives of rank and file police officers called for Mrs O'Loan's resignation, while Sinn Fein demanded the immediate disbandment of special branch and Sir Ronnie's immediate removal from office

Rosie Cowan and Nick Hopkins
- Homepage: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/

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  1. Inside Jobs — Pied Piper
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