The 32 County Sovereignty Movement said last night that its chairman, Mr Francis Mackey, had been formally notified that he will not be summonsed as a witness at the Omagh inquest, which opens today.
There had been considerable political and media pressure for Mr Mackey, a councillor in the town, to be summonsed. The application to the coroner, Mr John Leckey, was made by Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son Adrian was among the 29 victims of the "Real IRA" bomb.
Mr Gallagher claimed that the dissident republican group, the Sovereignty Movement, was "inextricably linked" to the "Real IRA" and that Mr Mackey could give "some clarity and information in relation to the nature and status of the organisation he represents".
If the application had been granted it would have been unprecedented. There is no record of members of Sinn Fein or the fringe loyalist parties being summonsed to give evidence at inquests into Provisional IRA or loyalist killings.
In a statement last night the Sovereignty Movement said: "Francis Mackey has been formally notified that he will not be subpoenaed as a witness in the Omagh inquest.
"He clearly has no involvement or relevant information about this tragedy, and the publicised attempts to raise his name seem to be a diversion away from the truth in the service of an apparent personal political agenda."
There was controversy yesterday about a statement by the secretary of the Sovereignty Movement, Ms Bernadette Sands McKevitt.
She said: "The disgraceful use of a tragedy, such as Omagh, as a whipping stick to serve a particular political agenda by sections of the media and others only adds to the suffering of all the victims of Omagh, including the many families whose loved ones have been wrongfully accused."
The chairman of the Omagh Fund, Mr Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son, Adrian, was killed in the explosion, said he was "disgusted" with Ms McKevitt's statement. "It's absolutely disgusting anybody can make a statement such as that on the eve of the inquest."
Mr Gallagher has also asked the coroner to subpoena Mr Colm Murphy from Ravensdale, Co Louth, who is the only person to be charged in connection with the bombing. The outcome of that application was still unknown last night.
Some relatives of the Omagh bomb victims have expressed frustration at the inquest's limited remit. The hearing is designed to find out who died, when, where and how, but Mr Leckey does not have powers to try to identify who was responsible for the explosion.
A total of 154 eyewitnesses and expert witnesses are expected to give evidence at the inquest, which will last three to four weeks. RUC officers investigating the explosion will also be testifying, but will not be allowed to divulge any information which could compromise their investigation.
Council workers in Omagh have been transforming a hall at the town's leisure centre into a courtroom for the last few weeks, preparing it to seat 250 people. Because of the special circumstances, the Lord Chancellor offered civil legal aid to the victims' families.
Not all of the families are believed to have qualified for the state aid, but around three-quarters of them will have lawyers to represent them.