IRA man pleaded for lifebefore being shot Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Mon, 10 May 1999 08:01:14 +0200 source - Edward C Whyte Irish News 10/5-99 IRA man 'pleaded for life' before being shot By Liz Trainor AN IRA man who was gunned down by elite police marksmen in a London hotel room can be heard pleading for his life, it was claimed yesterday. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror a secret MI5 audio tape captured the screams of Diarmuid O'Neill before he was shot dead. It was claimed that the tape, which will be heard at Mr O'Neill's inquest, reveals that he was unarmed and said he wanted to surrender as police trained their guns on him. The tape was made by MI5 officers who had an IRAcell under surveillance at a London hotel. Mr O'Neill was killed as armed police swooped on their room in September 1996. The name of the officer who killed him was a member of the elite SO19 unit. His name has never been made public and he is known only by a false name, Officer Kilo. It is expected that pressure will mount on him when the tape is played at the inquest at Fulham coroners'court in west London. A date is expected to be announced later this month. Mr O'Neill's accomplices were captured after the shooting and later jailed for amassing six tonnes of explosives and plotting a huge bombing campaign in Britain. The Sunday Mirror claims the MI5 tape starts with glass shattering as police hurled CS gas canisters into the IRA men's base at the Premier West hotel in Hammersmith. It is claimed that Mr O'Neill is clearly heard shouting: "We give up, we are unarmed." And just before O'Neill is shot the group shouts: "We give up. All right... whoah, whoah. We're unarmed." Police: "Armed police officers, stay on the floor. Get on the f**king floor now." Gang: "Okay, we're down, we're down." Police: "Open that door." Gang: "Okay." Police: "Show me your hands now." Gang: "They're up. We're on the deck." Police then tell them to show their empty hands and to open them. They then open fire. Officer Kilo was instructed by a colleague: "Shoot the f**ker." It is claimed he can be heard screaming as the first shots were fired at him. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-05.12.99-09:41:44-21178