Police officers investigating yesterday's foiled bomb attack in Derry say they haven't ruled out a connection between the incident and the arrival of the Zimbabwean international cricket team in the city.
The device, a 1,200 lb bomb made of fertiliser and with a firing pack and detonator attached, was, according to the police, fully primed and ready to be exploded. It is thought to have been one of the largest bombs of its kind to be made safe in Derry in the past 30 years. No one was arrested in connection with the security operation and the police believe the bomb gang in the van escaped in a second vehicle.
The massive bomb was found in a red Toyota Hiace van at Clooney Road in the Waterside area just after 5.30 yesterday morning. The scene of the discovery is less than five miles from the village of Eglinton, where Zimbabwe's international cricket team played yesterday morning.
The van was initially spotted parked in a picnic area along Derry's Foyle Bridge by members of a passing police patrol. The police turned to investigate the van but as they did, it was driven across the bridge and along Clooney Road. When police officers arrived on the scene minutes later, they found the van abandoned on a dual carriageway outside City of Derry Rugby Club with its hazard lights on.
"The officers examined the van and found that it contained two large barrels in it. They called the army technical officers to the scene and a further examination of the van revealed that the barrels each contained 300 lbs of explosives," said PSNI Chief Inspector George O'Brien.
"This bomb was ready to go and it was designed to cause immense damage and no doubt the target has been saved by the alertness of our officers. We believe the device was assembled by a dissident republican organisation. A controlled explosion was carried out on the bomb before it was made safe.
"As far as the intended target for the bombers is concerned, it could have been the bridge, it could have been Eglinton where the cricket match is on today or it could have been a security force base," he added.
Detectives investigating the attempted bomb attack were yesterday trying to trace the history of the van used by the bombers. The vehicle, registration number LUI 9974, was seriously damaged in the controlled explosion. Yesterday afternoon dozens of police officers sealed off and searched the ground around the picnic area where the van was first spotted.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell said he was convinced that lives had been saved because of the successful police operation. "It is obviously good work on the part of the police. But the Chief Constable Hugh Orde and Tony Blair must take a message from this and that is there is an upsurge in republican paramilitary activity and we need the officers, both the police and the army, to deal with that. The way not to deal with it is to get rid of the police officers, to get rid of the military response."
Local SDLP councillor Gerard Diver said he offered his congratulations to the police for the manner in which they had intercepted the massive bomb. "We know only too well just how much devastation and death devices of this size can cause. We honestly believed we had arrived at a situation where things like this were of the past but the security services have to be congratulated on their work here today."