The head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (formerly the RUC), Sir Ronnie Flanagan has been urged to drop any plan to call an outside force in to investigate the Omagh bombing following damaging claims that Special Branch ignored warnings about a strike on the Co. Tyrone town.
The SDLP’s Alban Maginness said any new probe should be conducted by the recently constituted Policing Board which oversees the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
He said an investigation should be considered by the Board once they had studied the Police Ombudsman's report, which is due to be published on Wednesday.
Following leaks of the report earlier this week the chief constable has disclosed he is considering asking an outside force to take over the investigation and had had preliminary discussions with Britain’s Inspector of Constabulary.
However, Mr Maginness said the proper authority for dealing with these matters was the Police Board. He said it seemed to him the proper procedure was for the report to be officially published, given to the Police Board and for them, if necessary, to set up their own inquiry.
For the Chief Constable to call in an outside force seemed "unnecessary duplication" said Mr Maginness.
"We have got the Ombudsman's report, we have got the potential of an inquiry by the Police Board which was set up to ensure that the Police Service of Northern Ireland was accountable to the people of Northern Ireland.
"Why should we include an outside police service?"
Meanwhile, the UUP’s Lord Maginnis said unless the row over the leaked report was cleared up quickly there should be an external inquiry, whether organised by the Police Board or the Chief Constable.
He said Sir Ronnie had a duty to his officers to ensure the matter was investigated properly whatever the Police Board decided.
Relatives of some of the Omagh victims may call for a judicial investigation after claims that a warning of an attack was delivered 11 days before the Real IRA detonated the bomb which killed 29 people in August 1998.
It is claimed an anonymous call warned the RUC an unspecified attack was planned for Omagh on the day of the bombing. An officer who took the call apparently told the Special Branch, but the information was not passed on to commanders on the ground.
These details did not emerge until July 2000 as part of an internal review of the inquiry. The finding is contained in a report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Nuala O'Loan which is due to be released next Wednesday.
However, the chief constable categorically denied the anonymous telephone call could be linked in any way to the carnage and devastation.
"It had absolutely nothing to do with the attack on Omagh," he declared.
PA