SAOIRSE32

BN.ie

23/12/2006 - 13:37:55

The North’s Human Rights Commission should be able to question MI5 about alleged human rights abuses, the chief commissioner said today.

Monica McWilliams wants the power to examine possible wrongdoing by the British intelligence services.

Relatives of the 29 who died in the 1998 Omagh bomb have claimed MI5 failed to pass on information.

The Justice and Security Bill being considered in Westminster would exempt intelligence services MI5 and MI6 and national-security matters from scrutiny.

Ms McWilliams said: “It is a very wide-ranging exemption and it would put a lot of limitations on what we would be able to investigate and we are hoping it could be amended.

“We say we should have the power to investigate matters retrospectively.

“We hope to have these powers by January 2008 so it would be a number of years after that before there would be evidence and documents available.”

Established under the Good Friday Agreement ending armed conflict in the North, the commission advocates human-rights protection in law, policy and practice.

Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley demanded Ms McWilliams’ removal in the House of Commons this week and called for the commission to be “reined in”.

The proposed exemptions would cover national security, including Police Service of Northern Ireland involvement.

MI5, which fights insurgency within the UK, and MI6, which works abroad, would both be exempt.

MI5 is building a centre near Holywood, Co Down, and is due to take over responsibility for national security from the police.

PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde said his force would not be sidelined in any matters involving the North.

The SDLP has pressed for Northern Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan to be allowed to hold MI5 to account.

MI5 was criticised amid allegations it failed to pass on warnings from an informer about the August 1998 Omagh bomb. Relatives of those killed are calling for an independent public inquiry into this and other matters of concern.

MI5 is already covered by surveillance and intercept commissioners as well as an Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

The tribunal has not upheld any complaints about actions in the North.

“We hope to secure retrospective powers but national security will be more difficult, given the atmosphere around international terrorism,” Ms McWilliams said.

“We want to look at this in the context of Northern Ireland and the issue of covert surveillance and it is important that the intelligence services understand their human rights responsibilities.”

BN.ie

23/12/2006 - 13:43:50

Crunch talks between Sinn Féin and the British government are making progress, republicans said today.

Chief Sinn Féin negotiator Martin McGuinness said the party was working today on agreeing a deal on policing in time for restoration of devolved government in the North next March.

However, he described Democratic Unionist fears that the timetable would not be met as “provocative” and said the intervention was a cause for concern.

“For the last week Sinn Féin has been involved in intense discussions with the British government, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to try and resolve the outstanding issues in the peace process,” he said.

“Progress is being made and this work will continue today. We are determined to do all that we can to find agreement with the DUP to get the power-sharing institutions up and running immediately after the March elections.

“The deliberately provocative statements yesterday from some senior DUP figures is a cause of concern to nationalists and republicans because key to moving forward is a commitment from the DUP to sharing power on the basis of equality with republicans.”

The party is expected to call an Ard Comhairle, a meeting of the national executive, ahead of an Ard Fheis meeting of all members next year to rubberstamp joining policing scrutiny bodies the Policing Board and the District Policing Partnerships.

Republicans have opposed engaging with policing because of concerns like the handling of police agents. The DUP has called for engagement before agreeing to form a power-sharing government.

DUP MP Willie McCrea claimed yesterday that because of “dithering” by Sinn Féin the timetable would now be impossible to meet.

BN.ie

24/12/2006 - 10:57:19

French authorities are expected to seek the extradition of a Dublin man linked to a Real IRA arms haul intercepted in Brittany.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the 29-year-old, who in his absence has been given a four-year sentence for “criminal association with a terrorist group”.

He is alleged to have played a central role in a plot to smuggle weapons from France to Ireland in 2003, which was foiled by a Garda-led investigation involving Dutch, French and British authorities.

BBC

Irish President Mary McAleese has revealed that she has relations who have recently joined the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Mrs McAleese told RTE that “members of her clan” played for the police Gaelic football team.

She said her relatives, believed to be cousins, had played for the PSNI against the Garda Siochana GAA team.

Mrs McAleese added that she would like to see relations improve between the north and south.

“We have seen members of the PSNI Gaelic football team, on which I have members of my own family, members of my own clan are members of that team, coming down and playing with members of the Garda Siochana,” she said.

Mrs McAleese, who was inaugurated as the Irish head of state in 1997, is the first president to come from Northern Ireland.

She is now in her second term of office.

BBC

A taxi driver has been robbed and his car set on fire in west Belfast.

He had picked up three teenage boys on Ravenhill Road at about 0410 GMT on Sunday. They asked him to drop them off at Malvern Street in the Shankill area.

When they arrived, they threatened him and tried to steal the car. They set fire to the seats before stealing money and his satellite navigation system.

The driver managed to put out the fire and was not hurt. Police have appealed for information about the incident.

The sat nav system was later recovered in the grounds of a nearby school.