British Special Branch operatives failed to alert senior RUC officers about an advance tip-off of an bomb attack in Omagh, it emerged tonight.
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The aftermath of the Omagh bomb
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An anonymous tip-off was delivered 11 days before the attack in August 1998, but the information was not passed on, according to a leaked report into the RUC investigation of the bombing. The bomb killed 29 people and injured hundreds more.
The anonymous caller spoke to an officer at Omagh police station on the morning of August 4th 1998, warning that weapons were being smuggled over the border in preparation for an attack on police in the town on August 15th, the day of the bombing.
The officer passed the information to the Special Branch but it was July last year before its existence was discovered, it was claimed, when files were checked as part of an internal review of the investigation which was ordered by the Chief Constable.
The report is due to be released next week by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Ms Nuala O'Loan. A spokesman for the Ombudsman's office told ireland.comtonight that he would not confirm or deny the reports. He said full details would not be released until next Wednesday.
Ms O'Loan began to examine police intelligence on the Omagh attack after a Special Branch informant claimed in two newspapers that he had passed on information about a bomb being made by the Continuity IRA.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it has asked for more time to consider the report.
A draft copy is with the Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid said he would not be commenting until he had seen the final version of the report. Leaks, he said, were never helpful and usually malicious.
The survey will be seriously critical of the Special Branch's role, and also confirm significant shortcomings in the investigation into the worst single outrage in the 30 years of bloodshed.
It has been claimed there was confusion at leadership level, inadequate resources, inexperienced staff and insufficient exchange of information with Gardaí, who carried out their own probe because of the cross-border connection with the bombers.
PA