A crude but "viable" parcel bomb addressed to UK Unionist Party leader, Mr
Robert McCartney, at his Northern Ireland Forum offices in Belfast has been defused by the British army.
The bomb alert was raised yesterday morning after Forum staff at the
Interpoint Centre became suspicious of the parcel addressed to Mr McCartney who is currently holidaying with his family in France.
Army bomb disposal experts said the device fitted inside a padded envelope was "crude but viable" and would have injured anybody in the vicinity had it exploded. Mr McCartney said he was in no doubt that the bomb was a serious attempt to kill him. "The parcel, if opened, would probably have been fatal and at the very least would have caused very disfiguring injuries," he added.
Mr McCartney, the MP for North Down, said the parcel consisted of two sections of explosives and two sections of ball bearings. Had it been opened it would have exploded immediately, he said.
He was not in a position to say whether the bomb was sent by republicans or loyalists, as he was critical of both sets of paramilitaries. Loyalists have used such explosive devices in the past when targeting SDLP members, although that does not necessarily point to loyalists being responsible. It is understood that the explosive base was gunpowder which would be relatively freely available to the IRA, UVF, UDA or fringe republican or loyalist paramilitaries. No organisation has admitted the attack.
Mr McCartney believed the attack was motivated by his "defence of democracy and the Union". "I think the people who really ought to be indicted for this are the British and Irish governments who have corrupted democratic politics in
Northern Ireland by courting and wooing people who are wedded to terror," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
"The British and Irish governments have embraced for their own internal security reasons the vice and violence and corrupting influence of political terrorism," he added.
Party colleague Mr Cedric Wilson blamed republicans for sending the bomb. He said it was clearly designed to kill or maim Mr McCartney. He is now seeking a meeting with RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, and the Northern
Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam.
The North's Security Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, said it was a regrettable action. "It is a matter of regret that such a device was sent. Fortunately, nobody was injured. We have no knowledge who sent it but clearly such an approach is not helpful in the current circumstances," he added. He did not believe it would have implications for the IRA ceasefire.
The Alliance Party chief whip, Mr Sean Neeson, in condemning the attack said there were "still thugs who are prepared to destroy the democratic process in
Northern Ireland". As one who was in the Forum when the bomb arrived he congratulated the vigilance of staff.
Politicians at the Forum were angered that any member or any politician should be targeted in such a manner, Mr Neeson added.
The Workers' Party in Northern Ireland also condemned the incident. The party's Belfast chairman, Mr John Lowry, said the bomb was "not only an attack on the life of Mr McCartney but an attack on democracy and an assault on the whole political and peace processes".
"Those who seek by violence and murder to silence the democratic process must not be allowed to do so. It shows there are still in our society unreconstructed terrorists trying to impose their warped will on the people of Northern
Ireland," he added.
