Republican group admits responsibility for car bomb

A GROUP calling itself the Irish Continuity Army Council, which wrecked the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen in July, has admitted responsibility for the car bomb which was discovered in Belfast city centre on Sunday night.

The device contained 250 lb of homemade explosives in large plastic bags. Similar car bombs which exploded before the IRA ceasefire of August 1994 caused major damage and loss of life.

The Continuity Army Council is said to be supportive of the political stance of Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), which, under Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, broke away from Provisional Sinn Fein 10 years ago.

In addition to the homemade explosives, an alarm clock, batteries and electrical wire were also recovered. However, it is unclear whether the bomb was primed to explode, as police would not say whether any detonators were found.

There were suggestions last night that the car may have been abandoned at College Square North in Belfast city centre while it was in transit to another target.

Two warnings were issued to the Irish News by a caller claiming to represent the Irish Continuity Army. The first call was made at 8.42 p.m. and the second at 9.13 p.m. The caller, according to the journalist who took the messages, was particularly anxious that the warning should be taken seriously and that the device be defused.

The nervous demeanour of the caller seemed to indicate that those responsible for the bomb may have been forced to abort their mission, it was suggested

Forensic experts were continuing to examine the scene yesterday at College Square North, where the red Rover car containing the device was blown up by British army bomb disposal experts in a controlled explosion on Sunday night.

The Rover car was hijacked earlier on Sunday at Cupar Street, off the Springfield Road in west Belfast, by armed and masked men. The owner of the car was instructed not to report the hijacking for two hours.

Leading loyalist politicians counselled against retaliation from loyalist paramilitaries, who have maintained their ceasefire since October 1994.

Mr Gary McMichael, of the Ulster Democratic Party, which is linked to the UDA, said it was important that loyalists were not provoked by the incident. "Republicanism has been deeply embarrassed by the strength of commitment loyalists have shown to the democratic process", he said. "They should not allow a small fascist republican element to set the agenda for everybody else.

Mr David Ervine, of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF, commented:

"It would be rather a tragedy to destroy a loyalist ceasefire because of a disparate little group of people who can't countenance the notion of change in this society."

The Ulster Unionist Party's security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, said that the bomb was a deliberate attempt to provoke loyalist paramilitaries and at the same time goad the IRA into action in Northern Ireland.

The SDLP MP for West Belfast, Dr Joe Hendron, described the discovery of the bomb as deeply worrying. "It focuses even more on the need to find a political settlement", he added.

Mr John Lowry, of the Workers' Party, said that those responsible were "bitter backwoodsmen who are out to wreck any prospect of peace in Northern Ireland".