Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams said today he agreed in principle with the Omagh bombers being brought to justice.
However, Mr Adams insisted that the real issue was how the police handled information about the Real IRA bombers who killed 29 people including a woman heavily pregnant with twins in August 1998.
He maintained the tough party stance on the investigation as the row continued over the performance of the RUC and its successor, the Police Service of Northern Ireland - and in particular its chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan - in bringing criminal convictions against the perpetrators of what was the worst single atrocity of the troubles.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politicsprogramme Mr Adams said he did not have a problem with those who planned and carried out the Omagh attack being brought to justice.
Asked if he would support people passing information on about the attack, he said: "People will make their own judgment on this. Many people will see this as a moral issue.
"The very fact that part of this investigation had to look at the destruction or loss of hundreds or perhaps thousands of witness statements shows that people are coming forward.
He added later: "Part of the controversy is how that information was dealt with. I don't have any confidence at all in the policing service to deal with this issue.
"While I'm entirely and absolutely sympathetic to the plight of the relatives, all of this has to be seen in the context of the need for a decent and proper policing service."
However Mr Oliver Gibson, a member of the Democratic Unionists, came out against a public inquiry into the affair.
Mr Gibson, whose niece Esther died in the blast, said: "I don't think a public inquiry will help the people of Omagh for the simple reason that we have now been dragged back into a grieving situation.
"Old wounds have been reopened. The scabs have been taken off those wounds. This is not necessary. And a public inquiry will not bring the people to justice who done this. It will simply prolong the agony and the grieving."
Yesterday Colm Murphy, the only person convicted in connection with the disaster, started a 14-year sentence for a conspiracy conviction.
But, Mr Gibson said the conviction was "a smokescreen" and that political interference was the real factor behind the failure to bring substantial charges.
He said: "I suspect along with an awful lot of people in Omagh that there has been political interference with the judicial process: to placate the republican movement prosecutions have never been allowed to proceed."
Last night Northern Ireland First Minister Mr David Trimble claimed Police Ombudsman Ms Nuala O'Loan may have irreparably damaged relations with police with her devastating assessment of the inquiry.
PA