London police say bomb attacks were 'imminent'
As the British political party conference season opened
yesterday in Brighton, MI5 and anti-terrorist police foiled what they believed
were preparations for a massive pre-election bombing campaign in Britain.
One man died during a series of early morning raids by police in West
London, Sussex and South Yorkshire, during which 10 tonnes of explosives
were uncovered, the biggest discovery of its kind in Britain.
Some of the five men detained - whom police have not yet named - were
being held at Paddington Green high-security police station. The others
were being questioned elsewhere in London.
In the aftermath of the IRA's second massive setback inside three months
Belfast sources last night said that the arrests and ex- plosives finds
would trigger a massive internal investigation within the republican movement.
The young IRA man shot dead in London and at least three of the five
men arrested by antiterrorist police were said to have either been born
in England or to have lived there for some time. Another of the men is
thought to have lived in Co Longford.
One man, in his 30s, is said to have come to the attention of the gardaí
in recent times in this State. He is originally from Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh,
but has been living in Clones, Co Monaghan, for some years.
At an industrial unit in Hornsey, North London, police found 10 tonnes
of home-made explosives, 2lbs of Semtex, three Kalashnikov rifles, two
hand guns and "an array" of bomb-making equipment, including
at least two car booby-trap devices and 13 timer units. Police also seized
two lorries and a number of other vehicles in Hammersmith.
Security sources described the Hornsey unit as a "one-stop shop"
enabling the IRA to retrieve equipment and sustain a bombing campaign up
to the British general election.
It is understood that as many as 10 police forces across Britain were
involved in tracking suspects during a protracted surveillance operation
lasting several weeks.
Since the IRA ceasefire ended with the bombing of Canary Wharf on February
9th last, four IRA bomb attacks have been thwarted, with heavy losses to
the IRA of equipment and key personnel.
Aside from the setbacks in Britain, the gardaí also made major
inroads into IRA operations with the discovery of a major bomb factory
and storage bunker beneath a farmhouse in Clonaslee, Co Laois.
The London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Condon, said
that the anti-terrorist squad had "frustrated an attempt by the IRA
to carry out significant attacks . . . with the possibility, indeed probability,
of grave loss of life". He said that the "imminent" IRA
attacks could have occurred as early as yesterday or today.
British Airways last night confirmed that a member of its staff, believed
to be an engineer, had been arrested after completing a shift at Gatwick
Airport.
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major,
discussed the implications of yesterday's events for the political process
in Northern Ireland during a 15-minute telephone conversation last night.
Mr Major said that the discovery of the explosives "put in their
proper context professions of peaceful intentions by Sinn Féin's
leaders and speculation about a new IRA ceasefire".
As unionist politicians renewed their demands for the decommissioning
of paramilitary weapons, the Prime Minister declared: "It remains
impossible to reconcile Sinn Féin's rhetoric for peace with the
IRA's preparations for murder."
The Tánaiste, Mr Spring, said last night that the IRA activity
uncovered by the police in London "would appear to be totally inconsistent
with those in Sinn Féin who are advocating a peace strategy".
Speaking in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General
Assembly, Mr Spring said that such IRA actions undermined the peace process
in the North. "It has to be condemned in the most outright and straightforward
terms", he said.
Frank Millar, London Editor, Irish
Times, 9/24/96
and Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent
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