Mortar attack van came from Ireland

A FORD Transit van used in last Friday's IRA mortar attack on a British army base in Osnabrueck was shipped over from Ireland a week earlier, the German authorities announced yesterday.

Mr Rolf Hanich, spokesman for the Federal State Prosecutor's is leading the investigation, said the van was driven to Osnabrueck from the French port of Le Havre.

"We know that the vehicle arrived by sea from Ireland to Europe before being driven to Osnabrueck. It was seen by various witnesses in various places along the way," he added.

Nobody was injured in the attack, the first by the IRA on mainland Europe for six years. British security sources believed at first that the mortar attack was the work of an IRA unit based in Britain, partly because the van carried British registration plates but subsequent investigations have now revealed that the plates were forgeries.

The new revelations point to the existence of an IRA group on the Continent, probably in Germany or Holland, similar to the unit which carried out a wave of attacks on British forces in Germany that ended six years ago.

The German authorities have been co operating with their counterparts in Britain and Ireland on the investigation, and three lengthy IRA trials in Dusseldorf and Celle have given them a detailed view of the organisation's methods during the previous campaign.

The IRA unit that carried out that campaign numbered up to seven people, with personnel changing regularly. The group used false identities and forged documents to rent apartments in a number of German towns and cities, planning attacks well in advance. Weapons and bomb making materials were sent from Ireland a few days before each attack was due to take place, minimising the risk of detection by police.

Donna Maguire, Donncha and Pauline O'Kane and Patrick Murray were convicted by a German court of attempting to bomb Quebec Barracks in Osnabrueck in June, 1989.

They were sentenced to an average of nine years' imprisonment but were released following the verdict because they had already served two thirds of their sentence. Donna Maguire's appeal against her conviction was turned down last month.

British bases in Germany have been on a heightened security alert since Friday's attack and yesterday's announcement will raise fears that the IRA is planning to strike again on the Continent.