SAOIRSE32

Sunday Life

By Stephen Breen
04 July 2005

LOYALIST killer Michael Stone has been quizzed by police over alleged murder plots targeting leading republicans, including Alex Maskey and Bernadette McAliskey.

Sunday Life can reveal that the Milltown cemetery killer - who was held by cops for three days last week - was also questioned about a plan to murder the father of Ulster comedian, Paddy Kielty.

It is understood he was interviewed about a plot to kill Co Down businessman Jack Kielty that pre-dated his 1988 slaying by UFF gunmen.

Stone now believes he will be returned to prison, after police sent a new file on his terrorist exploits in the 1980s to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Security sources have claimed Stone only presented himself to cops last month, after he was told that an informer was going to reveal new details about his life as a loyalist killer.

Stone went to a police station in London, and was then flown to Northern Ireland, where he was held for three days before being released.

Cops would only say that the former UFF hitman had been quizzed about serious crime.

But Sunday Life can reveal the killer-turned-artist was questioned about the attempted murder of a nationalist in Garvagh, Co Down, prior to his attack on mourners in Milltown cemetery.

He was also interviewed about a series of conspiracy to murder allegations, conspiracy to cause an explosion, and one allegation of armed robbery, all dating back to the 1980s.

It is understood the conspiracy to murder charges relate to a loyalist plot to kill leading Belfast republicans Alex Maskey, Tom Hartley and Sean McKnight at a Sinn Fein advice centre.

Sources also told us that Stone was quizzed about a plan to murder outspoken republican Bernadette McAliskey, and Paddy Kielty’s father Jack.

Stone is now back in London, and has refused to comment on his latest arrest.

But sources close to the graveyard killer believe he is preparing himself for a return to prison.

Stone was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement but could be returned to jail if he is convicted of different offences.

Said a source: “The talk is that Stone definitely believes that his past has caught up with him, and he will be going back to prison.

“He decided to jump before he was pushed by going to the police, because he believes that an informer is going to tell the courts about all the things he was involved in.

“Stone is not surprised that a file has been sent to the DPP, and he’s now just waiting to see what happens.

“Some of his friends are saying that if he is returned to prison, it will be the Government trying to even things up because (Shankill bomber) Sean Kelly has been thrown back in prison.”

sbreen@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

By Staff reporter
04 July 2005

LOYALISTS may re-start their controversial picket of a Catholic church in Ballymena, it was claimed last night.

PUP man Billy McCaughey said he feared the Harryville picket could resume, if Orange parades are re-routed in the Co Antrim town.

For the first time, the Parades Commission is to rule on a march in Ballymena, which it has described as contentious.

Mr McCaughey, a former police officer who was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic in the 1970s, was among 50 loyalist protestors, whose presence led to a District Policing Partnership meeting being abandonded last week.

Last night, he said: “I have a suspicion that if a parade is banned in Ballymena that it could lead to the Harryville protest re-starting.

“But I would hope there would be enough cool heads to say ‘no don’t do that’. But it could well happen.”

The Church of Our Lady in Harryville is once again, during the months of July and August, voluntarily cancelling Saturday evening Masses.

Loyalist protesters mounted a weekly picket outside the church during Saturday services, between September 1996 and May 1998.

The picket was mounted because of loyalist anger over nationalist objections to an Orange march through nearby Dunloy.

The protests, which were widely condemned, were called off shortly after the Good Friday Agreement received 71pc support in a referendum.

Sunday Life

By Stephen Breen
04 July 2005

BRITISH Intelligence chiefs in the 1990s were “not serious” about stopping the IRA’s bombing campaign in England, a former MI5 officer has claimed.

Ex-MI5 officer, Annie Machon has slated the British counter-terrorism operation, and says the same mistakes must not be made in the battle against Islamic extremists.

In a new book, ‘Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers’, Machon gives her insight into the Government’s war against local, and international terrorism during the 90s.

Her book features a number of chapters on her role in combating Provo bombers, and she claims “hard working officers were fighting the IRA with one hand tied behind their back”.

Ms Machon, partner of MI5 whistleblower David Shayler, tells how mistakes were made in arresting key IRA suspects, sharing information, and preventing terrorists from accessing weapons.

The former spook also refers to IRA superspy Freddie ‘Stakeknife’ Scappaticci, and how his actions as a double-agent caused “incalculable” damage to Britain’s national security.

But, it is Machon’s views on the failure of the Government and MI5 to combat the IRA’s bombing teams before the terror group’s 1994 ceasefire, which is set to cause most controversy.

Ms Machon claims MI5 failures allowed an IRA gang to detonate the massive Bishopsgate bomb, which cost the Government £350m.

The book also focuses on the arrest of IRA bomber, Sean McNulty, who was jailed in 1994 for conspiracy to cause explosions.

Other parts include illegal spying on the Gardai, and the illegal tapping of phones.

Ms Machon believes the mistakes made in their war with the IRA should not be repeated in the ongoing battle against al-Qaida.

“If the Government had been serious about stopping the conflict, it would have set up a dedicated organisation to defeat PIRA.

“It would have made far greater sense to have a single organisation, with its own archive and single management chain, which could act effectively and efficiently against terrorist targets. There is an obvious lesson to be learnt from combating al-Qaida.

“Although MI5 had nearly six months to get ready from taking over the war against the IRA from the Met, it was woefully prepared to begin investigating Irish suspects in 1992.

“These were not one-off mistakes born of inexperience with a new target, but were the result of institutional failure.

“Hard-working officers were effectively fighting the IRA with one hand tied behind their back.

“Even routine inquiries could take weeks to be completed. PIRA was hardly living in fear of imminent detection in 1992.”

sbreen@belfast telegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

By Ciaran McGuigan
04 July 2005

Alan McCullough

LOYALIST terror chiefs paid a star witness thousands to withdraw statements linking senior UDA figures to a brutal murder, it is claimed.

An unnamed man was forced to accept £10,000 to keep his mouth shut about the circumstances surrounding the 2003 murder of Alan ‘Bucky’ McCullough, according to the authors of a history of the UDA.

In a new edition of the book - UDA: Inside The Heart of Loyalist Terror - it is claimed that UDA heavies leaned on the man, and persuaded him to withdraw statements he had given police allegedly linking Ihab Shoukri and William ‘Mo’ Courtney to the disappearance of McCullough.

McCullough - who was one of Johnny Adair’s ‘Bolton Wanderers’, but later turned against the exiled loyalists - was taken from his mother’s north Belfast home, in May, 2003.

He was later shot and his body buried in a shallow grave, on the outskirts of Belfast.

Both Shoukri and Courtney were arrested and charged with his murder, although the murder charge against Shoukri was later dropped.

Since the murder, McCullough’s family and friends have suffered a campaign of intimidation from loyalist thugs.

Among those who have been targeted, is Presbyterian minister the Rev Ruth Pettigrew.

The book’s authors explained: “The UDA had concluded, wrongly, that the McCulloughs were refusing to withdraw charges against two senior loyalists, because of the continued help, welfare and advice (the Rev Ruth Pettigrew) was offering them.

“They believed, incorrectly, that the Rev Pettigrew was advising them to hold firm, and stick to the statements to the police, which claimed that two key UDA members took Alan McCullough from his home prior to the murder.

“The intimidation had already worked on someone outside of the McCullough family circle, who was paid £10,000 to withdraw his statement against the two charged with the murder - Ihab Shoukri and Mo Courtney.”

Mo Courtney was recently granted bail, but remains accused of the murder of ‘Bucky’ McCullough.

The charge against Shoukri was dropped, but he remains accused of membership of the UDA.

Sunday Life

By Alan Murray
04 July 2005

DISSIDENT republicans planned to kidnap two prison officers at Maghaberry jail and hold them hostage, Sunday Life can reveal.

A principal officer and a female colleague were to be abducted at knifepoint, and held hostage in Bann House last weekend, until inmates’ demands over prison conditions and searches were met.

But an eagle-eyed prison officer reported suspicious activity by two dissident republicans, and Bann House was locked down.

Twenty four balaclavas were discovered in subsequent searches.

One senior dissident republican has since been placed on a Rule 32 discipline charge.

The plot to kidnap the officers was due to take place last Saturday, when fewer prison staff were on duty.

Jail sources said the balaclavas were made in the garment room of the training and employment workshops, next to Bann House.

Said a source: “They were of the highest quality with carefully-stitched eyehole and mouth openings.

“A lot of trouble was taken to machine them.

“The dissident republicans had gone to a lot of trouble to make 24 balaclavas. It’s evident from other signs that they planned a major operation to take Bann House and hold the two or three prison officers on duty there hostage.”

Prison Officers at the top-security jail believe that at least one detonator and a small quantity of explosives has been secreted in the jail by dissident republicans, to maim or kill staff or loyalists.

One officer said: “There is a widely-held fear among prison staff that one or two detonators and a small quantity of Semtex has been smuggled into the jail and hidden, for use at a later date.”

Father Denis Faul has claimed that tension is building among dissident republicans in the jail because of what he called “inhuman” treatment.

The Fermanagh-based Republican Prisoners Action Group has warned that, unless alleged grievances at the jail, are addressed, a situation similar to the 1981 hunger strikes could develop.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Daily Ireland

By Conor McMorrow
c.mcmorrow@dailyireland.com

The home of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney’s fiancée and their two young children has been attacked with stones and bottles.
A window was broken with a stone, and glass bottles were thrown at the front door of the home of Bridgeen Hagans and her two sons in the Short Strand area of the city in the early hours of Saturday morning.

>>>Read

RTE

05 July 2005 16:50

An intense forest fire has forced the sudden evacuation of six camping grounds on the French Riviera.

It comes at the start of the holiday season when the area is filled with tourists from across Europe.

Emergency services say the fire started in three different locations around the village of Puget sur Argens, near the coastal town of Saint Raphael, and is raging through dry woodland.

More than 400 firefighters, backed by dozens of vehicles and 11 aircraft, have been dispatched to battle the blaze.

IOL

05/07/2005 - 15:19:13

Taxi drivers are installing security cameras and electronic locks to protect against an upsurge in violent attacks from passengers, it emerged today.

The National Taxi Drivers Union said there had been an upsurge in attacks, with seven in the last six weeks.

“We’re concerned about the level of attacks on our members who are out doing an honest day’s work, ferrying people home,” said president Tommy Gorman

As a result, drivers are installing security cameras in their cars to record the faces of violent passengers. Others are installing electronic locks which allow them to safely hop out of the car with their troublesome passengers trapped inside.

“If there’s any hassle, I just drive to a garda station and ask them to get out and pay up, or else I’ll go in. It works a treat,” said one driver, who did not wish to be named.

Xpert, a new taxi company, which is launching in Dublin next month, will have security cameras in all of its 500-car fleet.

“That will be a great help. At least it will be on tape and the guards will be able to identify the culprits,” said Mr Gorman.

He added that it would also reassure passengers, who have been worried by some of the disreputable drivers that have entered the industry since deregulation in 2000.

The NTDU estimates there are between three and six serious attacks on taxi drivers every week, with most of them occurring in Dublin.

In one of the latest attacks, a 64-year-old driver was left with a burst blood vessel in his leg after two youths attacked him beside the Molly Malone statue at the foot of Grafton Street.

“He was waiting for a pre-booked fare at 1am on a Friday evening and when he wouldn’t take them, they got out and beat him. There was a lot of people watching but no-one intervened,” said Mr Gorman.

The man was treated for his injuries in Beaumont Hospital last month and has not returned to work since.

In another incident last year, a woman flagged down a taxi in Dublin and then put a syringe to the neck of the driver to force him to drive to where her boyfriend was waiting. He threw a pitbull terrier into the cab and took the driver’s money.

Mr Gorman said: “Most people who take taxis just want to get home safe and sound but there’s a small element that want to cause mayhem. And they do and it’s putting our members in fear of their lives.”

BBC

The Army have carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious device found in a County Armagh town.

The device was found in Kinelowen Street in Keady at about 1200 BST on Tuesday after police had warned of an unexploded bomb.

Part of the town has been cordoned off as the Army continue to examine the object.

Searches in the area started after claims that a bomb was thrown at the security forces but failed to explode.

A caller claiming to be from the dissident Continuity IRA had issued a coded warning to a Belfast newspaper.

It was claimed that a bomb had been thrown at a police vehicle on Monday.

Members of the public are being advised to avoid the town centre.

Irish Independent

A PARISH priest joined the picket line yesterday as protesters prevented a fleet of trucks from removing peat at the site of the proposed €900m Corrib Gas terminal in Co Mayo.

Fr Michael Nallen, PP, Aughoose, Co Mayo, told reporters the gas controversy and the jailing of five local men for refusing to undertake not to obstruct the construction a high-pressure gas pipeline had caused deep unhappiness and division.

“People fear the risks associated with a high-pressure pipeline so close to their homes,” Fr Nallen said. “Processing of the gas should be done out to sea.”

Fr Nallen said he would continue to man the picket line when pastoral engagements allowed.

Protesters are adamant that no trucks involved in the huge peat-removal operation will be allowed out of the area while the five jailed men remain in prison.

One of the picketers, Edward Moran from Belmullet, said: “This is no longer a local issue. Others are prepared to go to jail. We will if necessary fill the jails to overflowing.”

Gardai were called to the terminal complex at Bellanaboy yesterday after protesters imposed a blockade on all lorries leaving the site. Garda Inspector Michael Murray told the protesters he understood it was local people who had been involved in the protest so far. “I would like local people to stay in control of the picket,” he said before leaving to meet Shell personnel at the complex.

Meanwhile, the prison authorities are to refuse applications by politicians to visit the five jailed men unless the men specifically ask to meet them, writes Tom Brady. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has already been turned down after prison officials said they did not want to see the detention turned into a circus.

The men are allowed an average of one visit and one phone call a day, and meeting politicians would mean reducing their opportunities of talking with their families.

Tom Shiel

BBC

Sinn Fein has criticised a decision to allow an Orange Order parade to pass the flashpoint Ardoyne shops area of north Belfast on 12 July.

There was serious rioting at the scene last year.

Gerry Kelly said the decision by the Parades Commission was “very wrong” and should be reversed.

However, Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain said the commission could not have come to any other decision.

The Parades Commission has imposed certain restrictions covering band music and the conduct of supporters at the Ardoyne shops area on 12 July.

But Mr Kelly, an assembly member for North Belfast, claimed these had been “completely ignored” in the past.

“The real difficulty is that this is two parades through - correct it’s Ardoyne shops - but it’s a shorthand, it’s three Catholic areas, Ardoyne, Mountainview and the Dales,” he said.

“I think it is a very wrong decision in the present circumstances and certainly it should be reversed.”

Residents’ role

However, Mr Cobain, an assembly member for North Belfast said that people had a right to march, although residents clearly had “a role to play”.

“We are not saying that we should march without talking to residents. We are adhering to everything that the Parades Commission wants,” he said.

“We are always working towards peaceful parades. We know that dialogue is the only way forward. The North and West Parades Commission has been working for over a year at this.”

The Orange Order’s 12 July parades commemorate King William of Orange’s victory over King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.

BBC

Police are warning people in Keady not to touch anything suspicious following claims that a bomb was thrown at the security forces but failed to explode.

It is believed the device may be in the Armagh Road area of the County Armagh town.

Police were alerted after the dissident republican Continuity IRA telephoned a coded warning to a Belfast newspaper.

The device was thrown at police on Monday. Anyone who finds anything suspicious is urged to contact police.

Daily Ireland

by Ciarán Barnes
c.barnes@dailyireland.com

The PSNI has admitted that a north Belfast pub is under the control of a paramilitary organisation.
A PSNI inspector made the admission at a recent Belfast City Council hearing into whether to award Bonaparte’s Ale House on the Cavehill Road an entertainment licence.
As well as claiming that the bar is run by paramilitaries, the inspector said the PSNI had received an increased number of complaints about the premises.
The council subsequently turned down the entertainment licence application.
It ruled that the applicant, Mandy Hillman, was not a “fit person” to hold such a licence and that the awarding of a licence would “impact adversely” on the local community.
North Belfast SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness said: “Along with the local residents’ group, I have for a long time been campaigning to have this pub’s entertainments licence taken away. The decision taken by the council was the right one. Residents of the Cavehill Road are not happy at having this bar in their midst.”
Mr Maginness said that, when Bonaparte’s liquor licence comes up for renewal, local residents could oppose a new licence being granted.
He added: “This is a live issue and is something we will have to consider.”
In March 2003, in an interview carried in the North Belfast News, two men claimed they had been intimidated out of Bonaparte’s by members of the Ulster Defence Association.
Later that month, the paper claimed that 12 men had entered the bar on a Friday evening and demanded thousands of pounds in protection money.
The men returned at the end of the month and threw paint around the premises.
The PSNI was called in to investigate the incident.
Bonaparte’s has a capacity of 200 people. The council entertainment licence hearing was told that there had been a change of ownership at the bar “which had taken place under controversial circumstances”.
Local residents who gave evidence said that they had been subjected to anti-social behaviour, vandalism and public order problems by patrons leaving the premises.

BBC

Two protesters have so far scaled fences at Faslane naval base

Four people have been arrested during a blockade at the home of the UK’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet on the west coast of Scotland.

Organisers said 2,000 people were involved in the demonstration at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde. Police put the number at between 600 and 700.

The protest was organised to highlight links between militarisation, war and world poverty ahead of the G8 summit.

It was the eighth of its kind at the base since 2000.

As the blockade began a trumpet player sounded a mournful note but as the crowds began to gather, drummers took over and tried to create more of a carnival atmosphere.

The event at the base 30 miles west of Glasgow was organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Trident Ploughshares.

It was supported by groups such as the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Stop The War Coalition and G8 Alternatives.

>>>Read

BBC

Police and protesters clash in the centre of Edinburgh

Nearly 100 people will appear in court following clashes with police in the centre of Edinburgh.

Anti-G8 protesters fought running battles with 1,000 police in the centre of the city, which was brought to a standstill for six hours.

>>>Read