RUC warns irish on loyalist hit-list Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit "Edmond J. \(skip\) O'Neill" Irish News list 150 names on hit-list admits RUC By Jonathan Turner Families living in fear after loyalist suspect arrested with dossier ANGRY... Gerard Rice THE RUC said last night that the personal details of more than 150 people have been found in a suspected loyalist "hit-list". And a row erupted after police admitted that it found the dossier two months ago - and is only now warning people that they were named on it. Nationalist campaigner Gerard Rice of Lower Ormeau Concerned Community, who was warned this week that he was on the list, accused the RUC of putting his life at risk. A senior RUC officer has confirmed to Mr Rice through his solicitor that his address and details of his car were allegedly found in the possession of James Anderson, who appeared in Belfast magistrates court on February 26. And last night police confirmed that Anderson was charged with having the personal details of more than 150 people in his possession. Yesterday Mr Rice demanded to know if the list also contained the name of Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson, who died in a loyalist car bomb attack in March. He said: "I was told by the police on Monday that my personal details were in the hands of loyalists, but they refused to give me any more information. "They just told me that I should change my routine." Mr Rice contacted the Anglo-Irish Secretariat and then instructed his solicitor to request further details from the police about the source of the threat. In a letter on behalf of Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, a senior officer stated that Mr Rice's name and address and the details of his car had appeared among notebooks and diagrams in the possession of Anderson. Anderson, from Stormont Street in Belfast, was charged on February 26 with possession of the information. Mr Rice said: "If the police were aware on February 26 that details of my home and car were all known to loyalists, why did they wait so long to inform me?" he said. "The question has to be asked - was Rosemary Nelson's name also on this list? Has this person ever been a member of the RIR or RUC? Those questions need to be answered." Police also visited the home of Mr Rice's parents to advise them their address was also on the list. "My father has a chronic heart condition and obviously this has all been a great shock to him," he added. A police spokesman said last night: "The extensive list had to be fully researched in terms of its currency and accuracy. "If at any stage in this research there had been any reason to fear imminent attacks upon the people concerned, immediate steps would, of course, have been taken. "This was not, and is not, the case. The research having been completed, the people accurately named in the list were then informed as a precaution." ================================================================= 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-05.26.99-11:17:44-20093