Warrant issued for man after IRA bomb in Germany

GERMAN police have issued an arrest warrant for a man after the IRA bomb attack on a British barracks at Osnabruck.

GERMAN police have issued an arrest warrant for a man after the IRA bomb attack on a British barracks at Osnabruck.

They said they believe Mr Michael Robert Dickson (31) was leader of the IRA cell which carried out the attack last week.

They said he rented the holiday home used by the cell of three men and two women and hired a green lorry on the Continent.

A car seized by the RUC during a search in Portadown on Thursday is thought to be connected with inquiries into the Osnabruck attack.

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A German detective chief inspector met RUC special branch officers in Portadown, to co ordinate attempts to trace the people who launched three missiles at the barracks on June 28th.

In Germany police said Mr Dickson was the owner of a white Rover car with a damaged rear light, noticed by neighbours outside a house in Sandhatten.

Mr Dickson is believed to have left for Northern Ireland on July 1st.

The German authorities issued a photograph of the man they named as Mr Dickson and photofits of two other people being sought, identified as Beth and Mark, aged in their early 20s.

The federal prosecutor at the German Supreme Court in Karlsruhe said an international manhunt had been launched for five members of the IRA cell.

Police said residents living near the holiday home had noticed several vehicles there. These included the Ford Transit van used to carry out the attack, which caused damage but no injuries at the barracks, the hired green lorry and the white Rover.

The green lorry hired on June 24th was a Hamburg registered vehicle, with number plate HH EU 2255. It was returned to the agency on June 26th having been driven 700 kilometres, police said.

The suspect also rented a Mercedes car, licence number NE GB 469 which was dropped off outside the agency the night before the blast.