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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/policeman-shot-dead-in-northern-ireland-14219526.html
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Monday, 9 March 2009
A police officer died tonight following a shooting in Northern Ireland.
The incident happened in the Lismore Manor area of Craigavon.
The shooting follows an attack on Saturday when two soldiers were shot dead by dissident republicans as they collected a pizza delivery at their base in Antrim.
A PSNI spokesman said: "We can now confirm that one police officer has died following a shooting incident that occurred shortly before 9pm in the Lismore Manor area of Craigavon."
Police have been warning of a heightened threat from dissident gunmen for some time.
A manhunt was already under way after the two soldiers were killed outside Massereene Barracks on Saturday night.
Politicians across the community condemned that action as an effort to destabilise the power-sharing administration and this latest incident will prompt further concern.
Politicians from across the political divide were tonight quick to condemn the shooting and to blame dissident republicans opposed to the peace process for the killing.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of parliament for the Upper Bann constituency where the shooting took place, David Simpson, linked tonight's death to the dissident republican murder of the two soldiers shot dead at Massereene barracks on Saturday.
He said the political process was under attack from terrorists intent on causing mayhem.
"What we have seen over the last 36 hours is a deliberate and sustained effort by terrorist murderers to try and drag Northern Ireland back to the worst days of Ulster's past," he said.
"I utterly and completely condemn the criminals responsible for this latest outrage and I hope that the vermin responsible for it are brought to justice immediately.
"Events such as the murders at Massereene and this latest terrorist atrocity show us all the need for a swift, co-ordinated and ruthless security and government response."
Alliance Leader David Ford expressed revulsion at news of the shooting of the police officer.
He said: "My heart and the hearts of the whole community goes out to the family and colleagues of the police officer who has been so brutally murdered serving the people of Northern Ireland.
"I simply cannot comprehend the sheer evil of those involved in this attack. This shooting was cowardly and despicable.
"This murder must be roundly condemned by all right-thinking people. It is clear that dissident republicans are determined to attempt a sustained attack on peace and stability in Northern Ireland.
"All political representatives and the whole community united to condemn Saturday's attack. The public's resolve has been strengthened against these elements - everyone has spoken with one voice to say that peace is the only way forward.
"There must be calm at this time. Political representatives again need to show leadership.
"Anyone with any information on these attacks has a duty to contact the police immediately. The public, working closely with the police, can catch these individuals and end this violence."
Patrick Mercer MP, chairman of the Commons sub-committee on counter terrorism, said: "This is not unexpected. They have been expecting this escalation in activity for some time.
"The chief constable last week said the threat had risen and the fact that he asked for the help of special troops was a tactic that proves his fears.
"The terrorists want to damage the peace process - that is undoubted - but they are a small minority."
Since the start of 2008, dissident groups have mounted 18 gun and bomb attacks, with three carried out in the early months of 2009.
They had failed to claim lives during their latest campaign, until the soldiers from the 38 Engineer Regiment were gunned down outside the Massereene base on Saturday.
The news of tonight's killing emerged as tributes were still being paid to Sapper Mark Quinsey, 23, from Birmingham, and Sapper Patrick Azimkar, 21, from Wood Green, north London.
Last week nationalists and republican politicians criticised Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde after it emerged he had brought covert troops to help with the surveillance of dissidents.
But in the aftermath of the Massereene murders in Antrim, politicians showed a united front at Stormont today in opposition to those groups intent on violence.
Tonight Sinn Fein Assembly member for the Craigavon area John O'Dowd hit out at those behind the latest attack.
"This is an attack on the peace process. It is wrong and it is counter productive and I would extend my condolences to the dead man's family at this time," he said.
"As with what happened in Antrim over the weekend we condemn it. Whoever carried out this shooting was not doing so to advance Irish republican or democratic goals. They have no strategy to deliver a United Ireland.
"This is a time for strong political leadership and cool heads. It is a time for all political parties and the two governments to recommit to the principles which have underpinned the peace process and delivered the stability of recent years."
SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly condemned the shooting of the PSNI officer.
She said: "We are staring into the abyss. There is little point appealing to the people who planned and did this, but all of us have to realise we are on the brink of something absolutely awful.
"All of us have to get together to pull ourselves back from the brink. A tiny handful of people with nothing to say and nothing to offer cannot be allowed to destroy so much."
The leader of the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party Dawn Purvis MLA said her thoughts were with the officer's family.
She echoed comments she made after the weekend Real IRA attack: "The message remains the same, the perpetrators will not be allowed to damage our peace process. I appeal for calm and for people to assist the police by providing them with the information that can take these people off the streets and before the courts."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was in Northern Ireland yesterday to meet security chiefs and political leaders.
He said those behind the Massereene attack would not threaten the political progress that had been made over the last decade.
The DUP and Sinn Fein are the largest parties at Stormont and they spearhead the power-sharing government in place in Northern Ireland.
Yesterday First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson told a packed Northern Ireland Assembly that the Massereene attack was a throwback to years of violence he said would never return, while Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said his party would stand up to anyone who tried to undermine the political process.
Mr Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein are due to fly to the United States for a series of meetings with business leaders and to hold talks with President Barack Obama.
Yesterday evening's events represented a further challenge to the political system, with dissidents intent on destabilising the Stormont administration.
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader Danny Kennedy branded the latest shooting as wicked and murderous and blamed dissident republicans.
"These terrorists seem totally incapable of understanding that they are flying in the face of the overwhelming will of the people in Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, who want peace and political stability," he said.
"They are flying in the face of the unified opposition expressed to them in the Assembly and in the media today.
"And they will discover that the political parties and people of Northern Ireland are determined in their collective resolve to withstand any and every assault on the democratic institutions that have been in place for the last decade.
"We will not allow ourselves to be dragged back to a darker, bloodier world."
He appealed for anyone with information to help the police.
Police carrying machine guns were this morning guarding the scene of the shooting, which happened close to a school.
Councillors and local people were tonight gathering on the residential street as police helicopters hovered above.
A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said police were called to Lismore Manor, Craigavon, at around 9.45pm, following a request for assistance from a member of the public.
He said: "Two police vehicles arrived in the area. Both officers alighted from the vehicles. It appears gunshots were fired at them. One officer was struck by gunfire and subsequently he has died from his wounds."
He said a major investigation was now under way and police are appealing for anyone with information to call Lurgan police on 0845 600 8000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
©belfasttelegraph.co.uk
http://www.topnews.in/no-immediate-terrorism-link-shooting-n-ireland-police-officer-2137538
Submitted by Sahil Nagpal on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 01:53.
Featured North Ireland
London - A police officer was slain in a shooting near a school late Monday in North Ireland, two days after the fatal shooting of two British soldiers outside a barracks, authorities said.
There was no immediate indication of terrorism in Monday's shooting at a high school in Craigavon in County Armagh.
The slain officer, who was responding to a report of suspicious activity at the school, died after the shooting, police said.
An IRA splinter group, which calls itself the Real IRA, claimed responsibility for Saturday's shooting, which was the first lethal attack on British troops in Northern Ireland since 1997. Four people were wounded. (dpa)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/4965251/Policeman-shot-dead-in-Craigavon-Reaction-to-the-shooting.html
Policeman shot dead in Craigavon: Reaction to the shooting
Last Updated: 1:13AM GMT 10 Mar 2009
Peter Robinson, the First Minister: "I am sickened at the attempts by terrorists to destabilise Northern Ireland ... Those responsible for this murderous act will not be allowed to drag our province back to the past."
John O'Dowd, Sinn Fein assembly member for the Craigavon area: "This is an attack on the peace process. It is wrong and it is counter productive and I would extend my condolences to the dead man's family at this time," he said.
"As with what happened in Antrim over the weekend we condemn it. Whoever carried out this shooting was not doing so to advance Irish republican or democratic goals. They have no strategy to deliver a United Ireland.
"This is a time for strong political leadership and cool heads. It is a time for all political parties and the two governments to recommit to the principles which have underpinned the peace process and delivered the stability of recent years."
David Simpson, DUP MP for Upper Bann: "What we have seen over the last 36 hours is a deliberate and sustained effort by terrorist murderers to try and drag Northern Ireland back to the worst days of Ulster's past," he said.
"I utterly and completely condemn the criminals responsible for this latest outrage and I hope that the vermin responsible for it are brought to justice immediately.
"Events such as the murders at Massereene and this latest terrorist atrocity show us all the need for a swift, co-ordinated and ruthless security and government response."
Alderman Sidney Anderson, the mayor of Craigavon: "There is total revulsion about what has taken place in Craigavon tonight. This was done to heighten tension and up the ante. I would appeal to everyone in Craigavon to ensure they don't succeed.
"Our young people know nothing of the Troubles and we don't want to bring Craigavon back to the bad old days. Someone, somewhere must knows these people within Craigavon. Gunmen don't just carry out an attack and disappear into nowhere. I would hope that when they close their eyes at night their conscience will get them and they will come forward."
Lord Maginnis, UUP peer: "We had made progress and we allowed it to be undermined. I blame the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who should have reacted to the warning from the Chief Constable [that the police faced a recruiting crisis and shortfall of 400 detectives].
Ian Paisley, Jr, member of the NI Policing Board and DUP Assembly member: "Our thoughts are with the officer's family ... this was a brutal, callous, unacceptable and completely unnecessary murder".
Sir Desmond Rea, the Chairman of the NI Policing Board: "It's a step back into a past that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland hoped they had left behind."
Patrick Mercer MP, chairman of the Commons subcommittee on counter terrorism: "This is not unexpected. They have been expecting this escalation in activity for some time.
"The chief constable last week said the threat had risen and the fact that he asked for the help of special troops was a tactic that proves his fears.
"The terrorists want to damage the peace process – that is undoubted – but they are a small minority."
David Ford, Alliance Leader: "I simply cannot comprehend the sheer evil of those involved in this attack. This shooting was cowardly and despicable.
"This murder must be roundly condemned by all right-thinking people. It is clear that dissident republicans are determined to attempt a sustained attack on peace and stability in Northern Ireland."
Danny Kennedy, the deputy leader of the UUP: "These terrorists seem totally incapable of understanding that they are flying in the face of the overwhelming will of the people in Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, who want peace and political stability ... We will not allow ourselves to be dragged back to a darker, bloodier world."
David McKittrick, a journalist and expert on Northern Ireland's recent history, said that the province was "slipping towards a security crisis."
After their attack on Antrim, an area that was relatively quiet even during the Troubles, the Real IRA were attempting to show that they can strike anywhere, he said.
"Now we have had an attack in a place where there has been more violence, so security forces will have to ask where can they send their people where they will be safe," he said. "They can keep a campaign going with just a few weapons. They don't need to have many weapons to do these type of hit and run attacks."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5877704.ece
From The Times
March 10, 2009
Sean O'Neill, Crime Editor
The policeman leading the hunt for the killers of the Massereene Barracks soldiers and one of his own officers in Craigavon is to step down as head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland within months, The Times has learnt.
Sir Hugh Orde, Chief Constable in Belfast for the past seven years, is the clear front-runner to become the next president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and has circulated a letter to his senior colleagues across the country canvassing support.
His imminent departure will leave Northern Ireland’s police force looking for new leadership at a time when security in the province is in its most parlous state for more than a decade. Sir Hugh, who has briefed the Prime Minister this week on the current position, may face pressure to remain in Ulster because of the three killings. But he could be confirmed as the next head of Acpo this week unless another candidate steps forward and triggers an election for the position.
Sir Hugh’s deputy, Paul Leighton, will also leave the force in May, when he is due to retire. Because of the inexperience of officers in the next tier, the PSNI will have to look outside Northern Ireland for its new chief constable.
“Hugh is the man to beat for the Acpo post, he is well out in front and it is not clear that anyone is going to stand against him,” a senior police source said.
“He has a lot of support. There is a feeling in the police service that he will be the strong voice it needs when police reform is likely to be a major issue at the election.
“Some may want him to stay in Belfast because of what has happened but he has been there a long time and has probably achieved as much as he can. The Acpo job does not become vacant until July, so he will have time to stabilise the situation before leaving.”
Sir Hugh, 50, a police officer since 1977, narrowly failed in his recent attempt to become Metropolitan Police Commissioner, losing out to Sir Paul Stephenson in the last selection round.
He is hugely respected in policing and is seen as an ideal leader for the service during what many chiefs believe could be a turbulent election campaign in which political control of the police will be a divisive topic. During Sir Hugh’s period in Northern Ireland he has been building a mod ern service out of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, while dealing with Ulster’s intensely difficult political scene.
Another source said: “Hugh is very conscientious and he will feel he needs to solve these killings. But he has been in Ulster a long time now and has actually been hugely successful in countering the dissident threat, thwarting several previous attacks and bringing in the resources he needs.
“There is a lot of confidence that the people behind these murders will be tracked down very quickly.”
A number of prominent police chiefs would be expected to apply for the vacancy in Northern Ireland if Sir Hugh takes the Acpo presidency. Sir Ken Jones, the outgoing Acpo president, might put his name forward and there is speculation that Assistant Commissioner John Yates of Scotland Yard might be a candidate.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0310/1224242572523.html
FRANK MILLAR, London Editor
Tue, Mar 10, 2009
WESTMINSTER STANCE: LABOUR AND the Conservatives combined at Westminster yesterday to affirm their support for “the operational independence” of the Chief Constable of the PSNI, and to assert this would be in no way diminished by the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Stormont Assembly.
This important policy clarification by Secretary of State Shaun Woodward and his Conservative “shadow” Owen Paterson followed Sinn Féin and SDLP criticism of Sir Hugh Orde’s decision to call in army reconnaissance experts to help counter the growing dissident republican threat prior to the murder of two British soldiers in Antrim on Saturday night.
Again vowing that those responsible for the murders would not be allowed “to stall or prevent the progress of Northern Ireland”, Mr Woodward defended last week’s decision by the Security Service, MI5, to raise the level of threat from Irish-related terrorism from “substantial” to “severe” in Northern Ireland. Welcoming the cross-party condemnation of the murders claimed by the Real IRA – and referring only to “some uncertainty last week” about the raising of the threat level – Mr Woodward told the House of Commons he believed the decision had been right “and entirely justified”.
Asserting that policing in Northern Ireland enjoys “the highest levels of confidence from the public”, Mr Woodward told MPs: “In my judgment it is absolutely essential that the Chief Constable has operational independence. Of course he is accountable to the Policing Board under the Patten arrangements. He will, if he sees fit, enjoy the same rights as any other Chief Constable in the UK to request further technical backup if so needed.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7933409.stm
GERRY MORIARTY
Tue, Mar 10, 2009
ANALYSIS: Dissident militant republicans hope their violence will see British troops back on the streets of Northern Ireland with communal tensions thereby inflamed
SHORTLY AFTER midday yesterday, Sinn Féin and the DUP finally presented a united, strong, empathic response to the murders of the two young soldiers in Antrim town on Saturday night. They circled the wagons before serious political damage was done.
While the so-called Real IRA and the other dissident republican groups pose a serious continuing threat, Peter Robinson and Gerry Adams agreed they must not be allowed to destabilise the powersharing institutions.
The initial cool, clinical response from Sinn Féin to the killings of the soldiers 14 hours after the attack on Sunday morning was still causing waves yesterday morning, as evident on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 and Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster where Gerry Adams was quizzed about his first reaction.
However, when he rose in the Assembly to respond to First Minister Robinson’s well- crafted, heartfelt statement on the murders of the young British army engineers – or sappers – Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar, there were words of human feeling at last.
“We understand grief and loss and violent bereavement,” said the Sinn Féin president. “I want to extend my sympathies and the sympathies of Sinn Féin to the families of those killed and injured on Saturday night. This Assembly is united in solidarity and I join with the First Minister in his condolences to the bereaved families and underpin his commitment that this Assembly is resolved to work through our difficulty. There is, as he said, no turning back.”
It was important that Adams spoke in such a fashion. It was important that the DUP and Sinn Féin leaders, in speaking compassionately, also made it clear that politically the Real IRA would not succeed in driving a wedge between the two main powersharing parties, as was part of their aim.
It was also important because on the airwaves again yesterday, grassroot unionist suspicion and uncertainty about Sinn Féin’s bona fides in its response was manifest, notwithstanding that other senior Sinn Féin politicians such as Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly condemned the attack and called for public assistance to the PSNI in helping apprehend the killers.
Anti-Belfast Agreement unionists such as those in MEP Jim Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice party were also attempting to sow division between the two parties by pointing to the technical, dispassionate nature of Sinn Féin’s initial reaction.
It was important that Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness – at the start of their visit to the US today and ahead of their St Patrick’s Day meeting with President Barack Obama – can tell American politicians, investors and reporters that they are a team even as Adams says that one is an “unapologetic republican”, the other an “unapologetic unionist”.
So, Gordon Brown – who paid a solidarity visit to Massareene British army base in Antrim yesterday morning and later met party leaders at Stormont – and Brian Cowen should be reasonably satisfied that the centre ground now occupied by Sinn Féin and the DUP is holding after a few worrying rumbles.
They and their security chiefs and advisers, however, will continue to have concerns about the threat from the Real IRA, which carried out Saturday’s attack, and the other dissident republican groups.
After meeting Brown yesterday, and also speaking in the Assembly, Adams said he was prepared to go “toe to toe” with the dissidents. Quite how he could square up to them wasn’t made clear but as well as posing a threat to life, security and politics in Northern Ireland the dissidents are also seeking to undermine mainstream republicanism as led by Adams in its own back yard.
Recently, following similar comments from Adams, senior republicans said groups such as the Real IRA were exerting payment levies on drug dealers in nationalist areas of Belfast and Derry while also claiming to be acting against the dealers. Such actions challenge the Sinn Féin writ in republican areas.
The Real IRA, which also operates under the banner of Óglaigh na hÉireann, is believed to have between 200-300 members. It is seen as the most dangerous of all the dissident groups, which include the Continuity IRA and INLA. After the Omagh bombing in August 1998, in which 29 people died in the single worst act of mass murder in the entire Troubles, it briefly left the paramilitary stage, but then began to regroup and reorganise.
Notwithstanding the jailing of some of its leaders such as Michael McKevitt and Liam Campbell, the Real IRA remains grimly focused on causing death and political instability.
The PSNI, Garda and MI5 have had considerable success against the dissidents. Some 80-100 of them are in prison in Northern Ireland and the Republic. Through surveillance, informers and intercepts, the Garda and PSNI intelligence operators, GCHQ and MI5 – have wide knowledge about their members and their methods of operation – but they haven’t complete knowledge.
There is still agreement that the dissidents will never have the capability or capacity for a campaign of violence such as that mounted by the Provisional IRA, but intelligence sources say they are developing sufficient capability and capacity to stage more attacks such as they did at Antrim. That is why the sources say the dissident threat level will remain high for the “foreseeable future”.
PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde in recent months has given particular praise to the Garda, saying its actions against dissidents undoubtedly saved the lives of his officers. Over a year ago, Sir Hugh said the dissidents were “inept” and “disorganised” but dangerous.
In the meantime, the groups – particularly the Real IRA – have restructured and reorganised and now intelligence sources agree that they are considerably more deadly and dangerous. That is reflected in the threat level shooting up to “severe” or very high in recent weeks, with Sir Hugh calling in British army special reconnaissance personnel to assist his officers in combating the dissidents.
No matter how good the security intelligence, the Garda and PSNI cannot cope with every eventuality that arises. That is reflected in how the Real IRA in November 2007 was able to shoot and wound two police officers in attacks in Derry and Dungannon. In May last year, a PSNI officer was seriously injured in a booby-trap Real IRA bomb attack in Co Tyrone. The organisation was involved in several other attacks against the PSNI.
As well as the danger of more people being murdered by the Real IRA and other dissident groups, there is also the threat that their actions could drag the loyalist paramilitaries back into engaging in sectarian killings.
That is what the dissidents want. They also want British troops back on the streets. They would hope for a disproportionate response from the PSNI or British army or perhaps even the SAS, which could prompt a shift in the nationalist mood.
The security and intelligence services in these islands know they face serious challenges in resisting the dissident threat. At least Peter Robinson and Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are conscious of the trap the Real IRA and other groups want to set for them.
Gerry Moriarty is Northern Editor
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7933409.stm
Searches are being carried out in Lurgan, County Armagh, after reports of a device being left near the town's police station.
Police said they had received a telephone warning and were carrying out searches in the Church Walk, Wellington Street and North Street areas.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has said an object found outside one of their offices in Cookstown was a pipe bomb.
Police said a device had been removed for further examination.
Sinn Féin assembly member Francie Molloy said that he was concerned about the discovery.
"While it is unclear whether the pipe bomb is viable I understand that local people will be justifiably angry that this busy constituency office has been targeted," he said.
"Those responsible have nothing to offer our society. Monday's evening classes at South West College's Cookstown campus were cancelled because of the alert.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7933409.stm
Published: 2009/03/09 22:16:50 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0310/1224242572571.html
DAN KEENAN
Tue, Mar 10, 2009
SINN FÉIN POSITION: SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has rejected criticisms that his response to the Antrim killings was too dispassionate.
He used a series of media interviews leading up to his leader’s statement in the Assembly yesterday to underscore his opposition to the dissident attack and to back his party’s commitment to accountable policing and to the political process.
Talking to RTÉ Radio 1 early yesterday, Mr Adams said he was bemused at criticism that Sinn Féin’s original statement on the Antrim murders. “We have to give calm, strategic and long-sighted leadership. This was an attack on the peace process,” he said.
Turning to the gun attack at the British army base in Antrim he said he hoped there was no ambiguity in Sinn Féin’s response. Recalling words used in Sinn Féin’s original statement Mr Adams said it was “wrong, it was counter-productive”.
Mr Adams said his first thoughts were with the families of those killed on Saturday night.
Describing the attack as a “dreadful business”, he said: “We have to be resolute, we have to be strong. We have a responsibility to give leadership. The police also have a responsibility.” Gordon Brown should ensure there was no return to “the old ways”, he said.
Despite the weekend attack, Mr Adams repeated his criticism of the chief constable’s decision to request the deployment of specialist British soldiers to counter the dissident threat, while supporting the PSNI in its pursuit of those who carried out the murders of the two soldiers.
He said that he had spent his adult life “working to see an end to partition and an end to British rule and British army involvement in Irish affairs.
“There is a way to do it now which is peaceful, which is democratic, which has popular support and the way that these people use on Saturday night is not the way. Those days are over. Sinn Féin is resolute about opposing what occurred.”
Speaking in the Assembly just after midday, Mr Adams aligned himself with comments and condemnation expressed by Peter Robinson, the DUP leader.
“I want to extend my sympathies and the sympathies of Sinn Féin to the families of those killed and injured on Saturday night. This Assembly is united in this solidarity and I join with the First Minister in his condolences to the bereaved families and I underpin his commitment to this assembly, his resolve to work through our difficulties. There is, as he said, no turning back.”
Referring directly to the murders, he said: “It was a deliberate and calculated attack on the peace process. It was wrong, there can be no ambiguity about that.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/88421/Fury-as-Gerry-Adams-says-British-special-forces-provoked-murders-of-two-soldiers
Tuesday March 10,2009
By Padraic Flanagan
SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams provoked revulsion yesterday by blaming the murder of two soldiers on Britain’s decision to deploy special forces in Ulster.
He sparked anger by claiming police chief Sir Hugh Orde had made a “huge mistake” inviting specialist British troops in to deal with the growing menace posed by the Real IRA.
Mr Adams had earlier added to the distress of the two murdered soldiers’ families by claiming their suffering was “the same” as that endured by Catholic families whose relatives were killed during the Troubles.
Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh had asked on Friday for the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, which has tracked terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, to be used in Ulster.
Mr Adams attacked Sir Hugh for calling in “unaccountable and nondescript” special forces, clai m ing their units had been involved in the deaths of republicans. He said: “You do not understand the history if you do not understand that the involvement of those units in the past, totally unaccountable, has led to the same kind of suffering as that unfortunately being endured at this time by the families of those two British soldiers who were killed.
“The Chief Constable made a huge mistake bringing in undercover British Army units.”
Mr Adams added: “Part of the rationale is that we can hold our police officers to an account. But we can’t hold shady, undercover British Army units to account.”
Saturday’s terror attack has heightened tensions in Northern Ireland, prompting fears of an upsurge in violence, with revenge attacks by loyalist paramilitaries.
That fear was underlined when it emerged that a sinister text message was circulating among the province’s Protestant community calling for action against republicans. It read: “To all Ulster men and women. Two of our British soldiers were slaughtered and 4 others critically wounded by republican filth last night. This txt signals that the war has begun. We must be ready to fight once again. Send to all loyalists. Let the battle begin.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward revealed new details about the shooting of the two unarmed and off-duty soldiers while accepting a pizza delivery at Massereene barracks in County Antrim.
More than 60 shots were fired when two masked Real IRA gunmen, who had hidden in a car park opposite the barracks, raked the area with semi-automatic gunfire for more than 30 seconds.
The victims were named as Sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, from Birmingham, and Cengiz “Pat rick” Azimkar, 21, from Wood Green, north London, both from 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment.
The dead men, and their two injured comrades, were due to have flown to Afghanistan later that evening to join 19 Light Brigade in Helmand province.
The other two victims were pizza delivery drivers. One, a 32-year-old Polish man with a partner and 16-month-old child, remained in a serious condition last night. The other was Anthony Watson, 19. From hospital, he said: “The soldiers shouted for us to ‘Get down’ before I even knew what was happening. Then one of the soldiers just threw himself on top of me as the bullets were still firing.”
A friend told how Watson – nicknamed Anto – owed his life to the brave soldiers. He said: “The guy with the gun then just walked over and executed the soldier as he lay on top of Anto.”
As concern grew about lax security at the barracks – armed members of the civilian Northern Ireland Security Guard Service at the base failed to fire a single shot during the assault – Prime Minister Gordon Brown met Army commanders there before heading to Stormont for talks.
Tory security expert Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism sub-committee, said: “We have to question the efficacy of this guard force if it is not prepared to fire on the enemy.
“How will this force be a deterrent in the future if terrorists know they are not going to be shot at?”
Northern Ireland’s most senior soldier, Brigadier George Norton, who paid tribute to the two “magnificent” servicemen, rejected claims that security at the base was inadequate.
The Prime Minister held discussions with DUP First Minister Peter Robinson and Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Stormont.
Mr Brown said: “The Real IRA have no place in the politics of Northern Ireland. These are callous murderers. These are terrorists who showed no sympathy towards people who are dying. These are callous people who carried out executions outside these barracks.
“I believe the whole population of Northern Ireland is saying that these people have got to be hunted down and brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0310/1224242572518.html
NEIL CARNDUFF in Belfast
Tue, Mar 10, 2009
ANTRIM SHOOTINGS : NORTHERN IRELAND’S political leaders showed a united front at Stormont yesterday in response to Saturday’s dissident republican attack in Antrim in which two British soldiers were killed.
Republicans, nationalists and unionists alike condemned the killings “without ambiguity”, and offered their condolences to the families of British soldiers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar. However, the UUP described Sinn Féin’s initial reaction to the killings as “lacking in clarity”.
First Minister Peter Robinson (DUP) insisted it was “not a time to raise the flag of party politics”. He said the attack was a “glimpse of what we left behind, an act intended to divide us, to raise fear and hatred, and planned to cause us to stumble, designed to force us to turn back”.
He added: “It is a time for every corner of this House and of our community to unite in condemnation and resolve that these people will never win, that we will not be diverted from the course we have set. The continued existence of this institution will be the evidence of the failure of the campaign of murder.”
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams opened his address by describing himself as “an unrepentant and unapologetic Irish republican”, but stressed the perpetrators of the attack had “no support within broad republicanism or nationalism”. He said the killings were wrong and added: “there can be no ambiguity about that”. He pledged: “Sinn Féin will, not just here, not just in the media, but in the communities we represent, go toe-to-toe with those who would try to drag the people of this island, and especially the North, back into conflict.” Mr Adams said he and his fellow politicians recognised there was “a huge onus on us for action to make politics work”.
He added, however, that there was also an onus on the British government and the PSNI “to resist any temptation for a return to the bad practices of the past”. In reference to last week’s announcement by Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde that undercover British soldiers were to be deployed in the North,
Mr Adams insisted: “The accountability arrangements around the PSNI must be adhered to and actively promoted.”
The Sinn Féin president was criticised by UUP leader Sir Reg Empey, who claimed Mr Adams’ initial response to the killings was “ambiguous”, and had only “been added to by subsequent statements by others”.
The first Sinn Féin reaction came 12 hours after condemnation from the other Northern parties, and described the attack as “wrong and counter-productive”.
Sir Reg urged those in the republican movement to co-operate fully with the security services. He asked them to “search their memories to see if there are any persons they know who would have knowledge of the type of people capable of carrying out this act”. He implored any loyalists considering retribution for the attack to “desist without delay”.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the attack would not succeed in destabilising the peace process.
He added: “The presence of somewhere like Massereene barracks is not an affront to the people of Ireland. It is the attack on Massereene barracks that is an affront to the people of Ireland.”
David Ford, Alliance Party leader and Assembly member for South Antrim, said the Assembly needed to stand together and show that politics could work.
Visibly moved, he added: “Because of the way in this society we often refer to events by place names, when people talk about Antrim in the future they will think of Saturday night. But that wasn’t Antrim. Antrim was Sunday lunchtime, the people standing in simple, quiet dignity as an expression of sympathy to the soldiers who had lost their lives.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0310/1224242572566.html
HARRY McGEE and ANNE LUCEY
Tue, Mar 10, 2009
GOVERNMENT REACTION: TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has said the Irish and British governments and all institutions North and South would respond in a united and “seamless” manner to the threat posed by dissident republicans.
Mr Cowen, speaking outside Government Buildings yesterday, said the shooting dead of two soldiers in Co Antrim on Saturday night was an attack on the peace process and the democratic institutions. He said no effort would be spared to bring those responsible to justice.
“These people have no support. They will not succeed. Their actions are entirely futile,” he said.
Mr Cowen emphasised that the response by both governments, the two police forces, the Northern Ireland executive and all parties North and South would be “seamless”.
“We all remain united and steadfast, both governments, all the parties and most importantly, the entire community in Northern Ireland are resolved to win our hard-won peace on this island,” he said.
He said he had spoken yesterday with British prime minister Gordon Brown, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness about the attack.
Mr Cowen said Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy would meet PSNI Chief Constable Huge Orde this week, saying both police forces were operating seamlessly together.
“Despite the success of the peace process there has been no reduction in the monitoring by gardaí of dissident republican activity. Indeed, extensive and intensive resources are used to deal with that threat on an ongoing basis.
“It’s a matter of public record that there have been many successes in that monitoring and surveillance of potential actions by dissident republicans. That will continue,” said Mr Cowen.
Sinn Féin Kerry North TD Martin Ferris said he would be willing to pass on any information he had to the PSNI on the whereabouts of the killers, but he stopped short of describing the killing of the two British soldiers as murder.
Mr Ferris called for support for the police in apprehending those responsible for the attack. The killers should be tried and brought before the courts and dealt with accordingly, he said.
Mr Ferris, a former member of the IRA, said this was a direct attack on the peace process and not just on British personnel, and it would result in delaying the removal of British forces from the North.
Those who carried the attack out had no support within the nationalist community, he said.
Mr Ferris was speaking on Radio Kerry yesterday. Asked if he would class the attack as murder, he replied: “It is killing. Four people were almost killed. Two people were killed. In the eyes of the people that carried this out, they would not classify it as that.”
Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews said he believed it would be appropriate for President Mary McAleese to attend the funerals of the two soldiers who were shot dead.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/03/10/tragic-mark-quinsey-and-patrick-azimkar-mown-down-by-60-ira-bullets-in-30-seconds-115875-21185684/
By Chris Hughes and Laurie Hanna 10/03/2009
Tragic squaddies Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were mown down by a ruthless burst of more than 60 bullets in 30 seconds, ministers revealed yesterday.
Two other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were seriously wounded in the Real IRA’s deadly hail of automatic fire.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward echoed the nation’s revulsion as branded it an “evil, sickening crime”.
He told MPs: “Whatever self-styled name these murderers choose to use, the House will recognise them as barbaric criminals prepared to carry out a premeditated act of mass murder.
“Callously murdering innocent people going about their daily business, they are simply brutal and cowardly killers.”
The minister confirmed “more than 60 shots were fired” in the atrocity outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim.
Gordon Brown visited the base yesterday and vowed: “These people have got to be hunted down and brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
The devastated families of slain Mark, 23, and Patrick, 21, also vented their disgust. Mark’s cousin Lee Quinsey, 23, of Birmingham, raged: “They are pure evil and total cowards. This was a random attack on the Army and Mark was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Mark was a great guy. He was so excited about being in the Army as it was his life’s dream. It’s tragic how that dream’s been shattered.”
The pair – sappers with 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment – were in desert fatigues and due to leave for Afghanistan within hours when they were ambushed while collecting pizzas outside their base.
The two masked terrorists stood over their wounded bodies to finish them off. Patrick – who once had trials at Tottenham Hotspur – was so fond of Northern Ireland he planned to live there on his return.
His family, of Wood Green, North London, said in a moving statement: “Decisive, generous, proud and dignified, he really enjoyed Army life.
“He particularly enjoyed living in Belfast and talked of settling there with his girlfriend after his return from Afghanistan, a mission he was within two hours of leaving for.”
They also paid tribute to “a great character and a good sport who never said anything bad about anyone”.
Meanwhile, Patrick’s brother James fondly remembered him as a “courageous, strong and a loyal and true friend”.
There were also heartfelt messages of condolence from Army pals and Antrim wellwishers as they turned the area outside the base into a shrine of flowers and tributes. But the bullet-riddled buildings were a chilling reminder of the ferocity of Saturday’s night’s bloodbath.
Mark’s parents Bill Quinsey and Pamela Brankin were too devastated to comment yesterday. Pamela is said to have collapsed with shock on learning of the horror.
And tearful Bill said: “I can’t speak about anything at the moment.”
Mark’s sister Jaime, 25, has cut short a backpacking trip across Thailand. On her Facebook page she wrote: “RIP Mark. I love you so much. I haven’t stopped crying. Flying home now.”
Mark had confided to relatives he had misgivings about his six-month stint in Afghanistan but was determined to do his duty. Cousin Lee added: “He wasn’t looking forward to it but wanted to go and do a good job.
“You would have thought he would have been safer on British soil than over there.
“We’re devastated. Someone must know something and for the sake of our family, they should come forward and give these murderers up.
“If anyone knows anything, I want them to search their hearts and tell the police.”
Lee’s father Greg, 52 – Mark’s uncle, added: “These people are cowardly murderers with no morals at all. Mark was unarmed and was just collecting a pizza. He was only 23. This is such a waste of life.”
Detectives say part of the ambush was caught on CCTV. They are still examining the gunmen’s Vauxhall Cavalier, dumped seven miles away.
The Prime Minister vowed the atrocity would not derail peace in the Province.
He held talks with its First Minister, Unionist Peter Robinson, and his No2, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness and declared: “They want to send out the message to the world, as I do, that the political process will not and can never be shaken.”
Mr Brown also met Northern Ireland police supremo Sir Hugh Orde and military chiefs.
A probe is under way into why armed guards there did not return the terrorists’ fire.
But the Army’s Northern Ireland supremo, Brig George Norton, insisted: “Are you suggesting people should have fired into a closely packed group, including my soldiers?”
Meanwhile, one of the Domino’s pizza delivery men injured in the attack, a Pole, 32, remains in serious condition.
The other delivery man, Anthony Watson, 19, and the two wounded soldiers were last night believed to be stable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7931536.stm
The former RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, is due to give evidence at the Billy Wright Inquiry on Monday.
The inquiry, which opened in 2007, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of the former Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader.
Wright was shot dead in the Maze prison by members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in 1997.
Sir Hugh was the RUC Chief Constable from 1989 to 1996, succeeding Sir John Hermon.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7931536.stm
Published: 2009/03/09 06:20:42 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0309/1224242513419.html?via=mr
JAMIE SMYTH in Brussels
Mon, Mar 09, 2009
IRELAND HAS been ranked second-last in an influential European survey measuring competitiveness in the major EU economies.
The 2009 European Growth and Jobs Indicator due to be published today shows Ireland has slipped from fourth to 13th place in a single year. It notes that economic growth, productivity and the public finances have all “deteriorated precipitously”, driving the country’s overall score downwards below every EU country surveyed, bar Italy.
Ireland’s reliance on external trade and the importance of its financial services sector in national output made it particularly susceptible to the global economic downswing and international financial turmoil, while the ongoing correction in construction only made matters worse, said the survey, which added that Ireland’s fall has been unprecedented.
The annual competitiveness survey, which is compiled by the insurer Allianz and the Lisbon Council think tank, measures indicators such as economic growth, productivity, education levels and investment.
Finland is the top-ranked country while Poland is ranked as the second most-competitive state, results that repeat the 2008 survey. The Netherlands is ranked third, up from ninth place in last year’s rankings.
Ireland’s position has weakened in almost every performance indicator measured by the survey. It fell from second to 12th place in economic growth; seventh to eight place in productivity; sixth to eighth place for employment; and fifth to 14th place for sustainability of public finances.
It retained its lowly 14th place for investment in capital and new equipment. The only positive was that it kept its third-ranked position for education.
The survey concluded that no EU country had been spared from the global economic downturn, with all seeing declines in growth rates and labour productivity. This will be followed by a deterioration in employment and the public finances of EU states, increasing the need for governments to undertake vital reforms to their economies, the report said.
“Today, Europe finds itself in the throes of what may still prove to be the deepest recession since 1929. With public coffers stretched to the max, rising unemployment across our continent and rapidly declining private sector investment, there has never been a more urgent time – or better opportunity – to lay the solid foundation on which we can build tomorrow’s growth, employment and prosperity,” concluded the survey.
The survey called for member states to renew the Lisbon agenda, a reform programme launched at EU level in 2000 aimed at increasing the competitiveness of economies. It aims to boost spending on RD, increase labour market flexibility and provide the basis for economic growth that can create jobs. It says more focus is needed to implement the programme at national level and the EU needs to monitor national efforts closely.
© 2009 The Irish Times
Updated: 8/26/2009
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