THE British army has denied that a former member, suspected of the IRA mortar attack on Osnabruck barracks in Germany, could have learned bomb making skills as an ordinary soldier.
Mr Michael Dickson was named by German police as a member of an IRA cell believed to be responsible for three mortars which landed near fuel tanks at the British base in Germany 10 days ago.
No one was injured in the attack.
He was in the army for seven years from 1981 and served in Germany with the Royal Engineers, who have elements based at Osnabruck.
A former colleague told a Sunday newspaper yesterday that Scottish born Mr Dickson (31) had learned about bombs and mines while in the Royal Engineers.
However, the army's press officer in Germany said. "There is no way his army training or his work as a sapper would make him an explosives expert. Their training in explosives involves explosives detection and certainly not the construction or disposal of explosives."
German police issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Dickson after the attack in Osnabruck. He is thought to have returned to Northern Ireland.
A German woman inspector is in the North working with the RUC to trace five people believed to have carried out the mortar attack.
Two other suspects were named as Beth and Mark, and their descriptions were circulated. A red flat bed lorry used to fire the mortars was found at a motorway service station near a house used by the IRA in Germany.