Irish Newsbriefs, PM 4/24 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit News from the Wire Services Re: Ireland & the Irish PA 04/24/99 17:09 We'll Keep Up Our Guard Against Terrorism- Mo PA 04/24/99 16:57 Police Link New Market Blast To Brixton Attack PA 04/24/99 16:05 Irish Air Nightlead RT 04/24/99 15:10 Irish Police Probe 1974 Bomb Collusion Claims PA 04/24/99 14:12 Hume Bid To Break Arms Impasse Hits Hitch RT 04/24/99 11:46 S Fein's Adams Slams Milosevic And NATO Strikes RT 04/24/99 11:03 FOCUS-Trimble Cool To N. Irish Breakthrough Idea ****************************** We'll Keep Up Our Guard Against Terrorism, Vows Mowlam PA 04/24/99 17:09 Copyright 1999 PA News By Alison Little, Chief Political Correspondent, PA News Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam has pledged Britain will keep up its guard against terrorism, as she revealed she has been in talks with the Home Secretary over the future of key anti- terror legislation. She disclosed her talks with Jack Straw in an interview with The Sunday Mirror, saying she wanted to send out a signal to people in Northern Ireland that life was returning to normal. But she pledged the new law would "keep our guard as a nation up against terrorism, whether it's Brixton or anything else". The paper said the review was a bid to keep the Northern Ireland peace process alive. Ms Mowlam told The Sunday Mirror: "We are always prepared, if necessary, to put the provisions back in place." There was a dual strategy: "On one hand we can say we are normalising where we can. "But elsewhere we're making very sure we won't be in a position that if the splinter groups grow we wouldn't be able to handle it. "Some threats are more real than others. And we are prepared for violence when it comes to these shores." Mr Straw in December unveiled proposals to broaden the kind of organisation which could be outlawed beyond those related to Northern Ireland terrorism. The plan was to put the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which currently has to be renewed annually, on a permanent footing applying throughout the UK. Provision under review include the right to detain suspects without charge for six days, and "Diplock" courts sitting without juries. The use of internal exclusion orders banning people from travelling to the rest of the UK is expected to be scrapped. The PTA was first introduced on November 29, 1974, as the then Labour Government's response to the Birmingham pub bombings which killed 21 people and injured more than 180. ****************************** Police Link New Market Blast To Brixton Attack PA 04/24/99 16:57 Copyright 1999 PA News By PA News Reporters London was tonight rocked by the second bomb in a week in one of its busiest street market areas. At least five people were injured and buildings damaged when the blast hit Brick Lane, Shoreditch, in east London, the centre of the capital's Bangladeshi community. The device, similar to the nail bomb used in Brixton last Saturday evening, exploded inside a red Ford Sierra car. Police said they were linking the incidents and treating them as racist attacks. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry said that two hours after tonight's attack, a 999 call was made by someone claiming to be from far-right extremists Combat 18 and claiming responsibility. One early theory from the police was that a brave motorist may have discovered tonight's device and was attempting to drive it towards a nearby police station when it went off. His car was ripped apart but he escaped with only slight injuries. If the reports are true, the unnamed motorist's actions may have prevented a huge number of casualties because the vehicle took much of the force of the blast. The bomber struck shortly before 6pm, just half an hour after the time of last week's Brixton bomb, which caused carnage and injured 39 people. Nobody was killed or seriously injured in tonight's blast. Three men and two women, all middle-aged, were able to walk to the nearby Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, for treatment. Hospital officials said they had suffered relatively minor injuries, including cuts and perforated eardrums. Scores of Muslims were gathering for prayer at a local mosque when the bomb exploded. But people living in the area said it was fortunate that the explosion did not happen an hour later when large crowds would have been visiting its large number of curry houses. Immediately, parallels were being drawn with last week's bomb, responsibility for which has since been claimed by four racist groups. Anti-terrorist branch officers went to the scene, but police quickly ruled out any Irish terrorist connection, as they did after last weekend's attack. Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in Washington where he is attending a Nato summit said: "These things are outrageous and we will not tolerate them and we will make every effort to find out those responsible and bring them to justice." Home Secretary Jack Straw said: "I am appalled by this second evil act of malicious violence. "The sick perpetrators of this crime are obviously aiming to injure completely innocent people at random. "Our first thoughts are for those that have been injured and who were in the vicinity. "I know that the Met Police are taking this matter very seriously." Community leaders said there had been increased tension in ethnic minority areas across London in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and since last weekend's nail bomb. Shards of metal from the Ford Sierra were strewn across the street and flames and smoke billowed from the wrecked vehicle. Victims of the blast were knocked to the ground by the explosion and slashed by flying glass and shrapnel, while a second car - a green Volvo estate - was damaged and a shop and cafe caught fire, they said. Astrid Dean, 52, a City worker who lives 50 yards from the scene, said: "The car was completely demolished and a shop it was parked by caught fire. The shops all round have had their windows blasted out and the Cafe Naz went up in flames. "It looked like a car bomb. There's nothing much left of the car. The roof has been completely blown off. It must have been a pretty big bomb." ****************************** Irish Air Nightlead PA 04/24/99 16:05 Copyright 1999 PA News (Note to CSEs/News desks: The defendant's surname is Street, NOT Jeffrey-Street as sent earlier) PASSENGER WAS `OUT OF CONTROL' - FLIGHT CREW By Ruth O'Reilly, PA News A 31 year-old man charged with an "air rage" incident which grounded a transatlantic flight early today was described by an airline official as the most out of control passenger he had ever seen. A court in the Irish Republic heard Paul Jeffrey Street from Wellsfield, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, had been drinking, twice barricaded himself into the toilet of the Boeing 767, had to be physically restrained and refused to sit down during landing. Street was charged at the special sitting of Ennis District Court, Co Clare, with threatening, abusive behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace on an American Airlines flight from Boston to Gatwick. The offence carries a penalty of up to four months in prison, a fine of up to IR 700 or both. Street, an unemployed plaster, repeatedly apologised to the court and claimed he had been drinking because he had a fear of flying. He also claimed he was unable to settle himself and needed a cigarette, but was not allowed to smoke by the crew. In a statement read to the court, the flight purser said Street was verbally abusive to the cabin crew and other passengers and had threatened members of the crew. He first locked himself into the toilet for 25 minutes and when he emerged there was a strong smell of cigarette smoke. Shortly afterwards he returned and barricaded himself inside and after 10 minutes the purser and the captain had to force the door open. The defendant was the "most out of control passenger" the purser had ever encountered in five years of flying, the court heard. Street had to be physically restrained during the "very frightening" episode and the captain eventually decided to make an divert the plane, carrying 130 people, to Shannon airport, Co Clare. The court was also told that Street had refused to sit down for the descent and was thrust onto the bulk head as it was coming in to land, although he was unhurt. He was remanded in custody until Wednesday. ****************************** Irish Police Probe 1974 Bomb Collusion Claims RTw 04/24/99 15:10 Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd By Tony Roddam DUBLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Irish police said on Saturday they had interviewed a man who was said by security sources to have alleged collusion among Protestant guerrillas, Northern Irish police and the British military 25 years ago in the worst day of carnage in the Irish Republic. Car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, near the republic's border with British-ruled Northern Ireland, killed 33 people on May 17, 1974. It was the largest number of people killed in a single day in the country since the so-called "Troubles" between Northern Ireland's Protestant and Roman Catholic communities erupted 30 years ago. The victims' relatives, who met Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern last week, have been fighting for an official inquiry amid persistent rumours that British security forces played a role in the bombings. Irish media reported on Saturday that Dublin police had interviewed a former member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Northern Ireland's police force. The reports said the man had alleged that the RUC, British military intelligence and the now-disbanded Ulster Defence Regiment -- a regiment of the British army, assisted Ulster Volunteer Force guerrillas in the bombings. Irish police in Dublin confirmed only that they had interviewed a man from outside the Republic who had provided details about "various crimes." A spokesman said a special detective unit had been set up to examine all aspects of the information but he declined to give further details. But security sources confirmed to Reuters that the man was a former RUC member who said he had evidence of collusion and that an investigation was under way. Media reports said the special detective unit was expected to travel to Northern Ireland to ask the RUC to interview other potential witnesses in a bid to re-open the investigation. Other probes in the 1970s and 1980s were wound down after failing to make any progress. Don Mullan, a member of Justice for the Forgotten, a group representing the victims' families, on Saturday welcomed news of the police investigation. "We're happy they're becoming active again in the investigation. For so long nothing seemed to be happening," Mullan, a prominent rights activist who fought successfully for an inquiry into the "Bloody Sunday" killings in 1972, said. He said the victims' families were anxious to identify those responsible for the bombings and also examine the Irish police's behaviour in the wake of the killings. "Not only do the families want answers as to the whos, whys and whats happened in Dublin on the 17th of May, 1974, but they also want a tribunal of inquiry to look specifically into the way the Irish police responded to the outrage," he said. ****************************** Hume Bid To Break Arms Impasse Hits Hitch PA 04/24/99 14:12 Copyright 1999 PA News By Ian Graham, PA News A formula produced by SDLP leader John Hume in a bid to break the arms deadlock in the Northern Ireland peace process tonight appeared to be anon-starter. Mr Hume said earlier today that it would involve Sinn Fein making a pledge to non-violence and agreeing to expel itself from the Government of the province should the IRA return to violence. He said he had presented the proposal, which would apply to all parties and connected organisations, to both Ulster Unionist First Minister David Trimble and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams for them to consider. But Mr Adams responded: "There is no question of us getting involved in any self-expulsion." The Ulster Unionists appeared unimpressed with the idea, and questioned whether Sinn Fein would stick to it. Mr Hume, speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics said there was a guarantee in the Good Friday Agreement that any party which abandoned non-violent means could be expelled from the governmental Executive. He added: "If people feel the guarantee is not strong enough I think we could get all parties, including Sinn Fein, to make a declaration that any party that abandons peaceful and democratic methods is expelling itself from the Executive." He said it would apply to a party which left the democratic path "or anyone associated with them". The formula is the latest offering to emerge in the efforts to find a way of getting over the refusal of Mr Trimble's party to consider sharing power in government with Sinn Fein until the IRA begins to decommission its weapons. Sinn Fein insists that disarmament is not something it can deliver. Despite the stand-off, Mr Hume said he still believed both Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists were serious about implementing the Good Friday Agreement. Asked whether he believed he could get David Trimble to sign up to something that did not involve actual decommissioning, he said: "What weare all signing up to is a situation where the gun and violence is taken out of our politics forever. "I believe all the parties to the Agreement are committed to that objective." Mr Adams, speaking in Dublin, indicated there was more to Mr Hume's plan than he had made public. Refusing to disclose details, he said it had been discussed by party leaders and would have to go before the Sinn Fein executive for evaluation before he could declare the party position. "It provides the basis for moving forward if David Trimble goes for it," he said. Mr Adams, however, rejected the central suggestion that his party could be prepared to exclude itself from the new administration if there was a return to violence. He said: "There is no question of us getting involved in any self-expulsion." The senior Ulster Unionist talks team negotiator, Assembly member Sir Reg Empey, said there was no provision for self- exclusion in the Good Friday Agreement - it was spelt out that a party had to be expelled by the others in the Assembly. And he questioned whether Sinn Fein would be prepared to make a pledge about IRA action - and if they could be trusted if they did. "They don't accept there is any connection between the two - what they do and what the IRA do is separate. We all know that is nonsense, but they could say one thing out of one side of their mouths and something else out of the other side." The parties return to Stormont on Monday for yet another drive to break the arms impasse which is threatening the whole peace process. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern are onstand-by to join the talks later in the week if they believe they can push the discussions to success. end. The Hume proposal was branded "lunacy" by Democratic Unionist Party assembly member Ian Paisley Junior. He said: "This is another John Hume rehash of the Mitchell principles." Mr Hume had no right to ask the unionist people to put their trust in the supposed "integrity and honour" of the IRA to police themselves. He urged the SDLP to stop the prevarication and demand IRA decommissioning. ****************************** Sinn Fein's Adams Slams Milosevic And NATO Strikes RTw 04/24/99 11:46 Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd By Tony Roddam DUBLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Gerry Adams, head of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, called on Saturday for an end to NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia and urged a negotiated settlement to the crisis under the auspices of the United Nations. "The NATO bombing of Serbia should end. This action is most definitely not the solution to the complex political crisis in the Balkans," Adams told a conference on Irish neutrality and European security in Dublin. Adams, whose republican party sees neutrality as a keystone of Ireland's sovereignty, said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was a "gross violator" of human rights and all "right- thinking people" would repudiate his actions. "But other such violators have been supported and armed by the NATO allies, including the Indonesian regime...and Turkey, which still ruthlessly suppresses the Kurds," he said. Adams criticised the Irish government's "passive support for NATO's stand" and said Ireland should not sign up to the Partnership for Peace organisation, which many see as a waiting room for full NATO membership. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has stepped up his campaign to join PfP but there are fears that Ireland's traditional neutrality would be compromised by membership of a pact led by a military alliance. Ireland, one of the top providers of troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions, is the only neutral European country not to have joined PfP since it was set up in 1994 to accommodate former Soviet bloc states. It now includes 17 non-NATO members. Adams, asking what nation posed a threat to the Irish, said there was no need for Ireland to join PfP or NATO. ****************************** FOCUS-Trimble Cool To N. Irish Breakthrough Idea RTw 04/24/99 11:03 Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd (Releads with cool reaction by Trimble) By Martin Cowley LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland, April 24 (Reuters) - The leader of Northern Ireland's Protestants on Saturday effectively rejected the idea that a deadlock in peace talks could be broken by a declaration from the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein. "Words, while they are fine, are not enough by themselves. There need to be deeds as well," Ulster Unionist Party head David Trimble, who is also the province's new First Minister, told Reuters. Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume earlier said he had put a new proposal to both parties in a bid to end a stalemate over the surrender of guerrilla weapons, or decommissioning. Hume said his proposal would involve a declaration by Sinn Fein aimed at assuring the entire community that a planned coalition administration for the province would operate "in a totally peaceful atmosphere." Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he and his colleagues had discussed the idea but gave little else away. "It could provide the basis for moving forward if David Trimble goes for it," he told reporters. Trimble is refusing to work with Sinn Fein in the new coalition until the IRA starts decommissioning, something the guerrillas have ruled out. Hume, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with Trimble for their work to end the 30-year conflict, told Reuters he had put his proposal to both parties last week. "The nature of it is that I accept both parties are quite genuine in their commitment to the agreement and its implementation but there is obviously a distrust factor at the heart of this impasse on decommissioning," he said. Both Protestant and Catholic communities needed reassurance that the violence in Northern Ireland had ended and that no member of the new coalition administration would be linked to any organisation engaged in violence. "My proposal basically would be a declaration from Sinn Fein designed to give that reassurance," he said. The protracted row has paralysed last year's landmark Good Friday agreement, which committed all signatories to using their influence to scrap guerrilla arms by May 2000. Weeks of talks between parties have proved fruitless and British and Irish prime ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern are likely to resume talks with the leaders of all the province's main parties next week. ------- Jay Dooling (jdooling@worldnet.att.net) Irish Aires - 90.1FM KPFT in Houston http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Irish_Aires/homepage.htm Dooling & Mabe, CPA http://www.doolingmabe-cpa.com/ ================================================================= 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-04.25.99-13:05:50-23692