DISSIDENT VIOLENCE:THE BOMB attack which left Co Antrim police officer Peadar Heffron (33) critically wounded last week has been strongly condemned by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
“This was an attack on the hard-won peace and progress achieved by the people of Northern Ireland, exemplified by [the] announcement of weapons decommissioning by the Ulster Defence Association,” Mrs Clinton said in a statement issued through the US consulate in Belfast.
“The actions of a small number of unrepresentative, violent criminals will not deter those in Northern Ireland who have shown leadership in pursuing peace, nor will they influence the wider society that has supported this progress.
“The United States remains resolute in our support of the political process and the men and women of the Police Service of Northern Ireland,” the statement said.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said last night that Constable Heffron’s condition was unchanged. He was seriously injured when a device exploded under the driver’s seat of his car as he drove to Woodbourne PSNI station in west Belfast early last Friday.