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July 15, 2005

Loyalists Condemned Over Suicide Slogan

News about Ireland & the Irish

IO 07/15/05 Loyalists Condemned Over Suicides Slogan
BT 07/15/05 'UVF Men Were Part Of March'
BT 07/15/05 Plastic Bullets Used In Response To Bombs- PSNI
BT 07/15/05 Hain Urged To Act On UVF Ceasefirev
BT 07/15/05 Injured Man Not A Loyalist: Family
BT 07/15/05 Speculation Mounting Over Provo Statement
UT 07/15/05 IRA 'Must Cut Ties With Organised Crime'
UT 07/15/05 Shell Sells Irish Operations
GR 07/15/05 Bombers Might Have Been Right-Wing Britons

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http://www.online.ie/news/viewer.adp?article=3256355

Loyalists Condemned Over Ardoyne Suicides Slogan

online.ie
2005-07-15 11:40:03+01

Campaigners against suicide in the North have condemned the
loyalists who erected a slogan on a bonfire in Belfast
earlier this week poking fun at nationalists who have taken
their own lives.

The slogan reading "Up the Ardoyne bungee jumpers" was
erected on a loyalist bonfire ahead of the annual Twelfth
of July celebrations.

It was a clear reference to the high incidence of suicide
among young men in the nationalist Ardoyne area.

The bonfire was part-funded by Belfast City Council as part
of moves to limit the environmental damage caused every
year as a result of the massive blazes.

Campaigners have now called on the council to withdraw
funding from any future bonfires unless there are
guarantees that that no sectarian or insulting banners will
be flaunted.

Phil McTaggart of the Public Initiative to Prevent Suicide
in Ardoyne said the slogan at Monday night's bonfire was
deeply insulting, while Margaret Wylie of the Shankill
Mothers Hope group said Protestants were just as offended
as Catholics.

Local priest Fr Aidan Troy also said the banner had
remained on top of the bonfire for three days after he
complained to the police.

Loyalist bonfires are traditionally draped with Irish
tricolours, Sinn Féin election posters and anti-papal
slogans.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=652480

'UVF Men Were Part Of March'

By Brian Hutton
15 July 2005

Senior loyalist terror leaders were among a contentious
Orange Order parade as it passed through the Ardoyne
flashpoint on Tuesday, it was claimed last night.

SDLP MLA Alex Attwood said that two "very senior" members
of the UVF were among the supporters which preceded the
parade on its return leg.

Almost 90 people were injured, some seriously, when
nationalist rioters attacked police after the march passed
through on its way to Ligoniel as part of the annual July
12 celebrations.

"I have very reliably been informed that these people do
not live in north Belfast and under no circumstances can be
considered individuals that are governed by parade
legislation," said Mr Attwood.

"They had no proper purpose for being on the road. Their
presence was planned and it was provocative," he added.

Mr Attwood, who was at the interface during the trouble,
has raised his concerns with PSNI Deputy Chief Constable
Paul Leighton.

He alleged that "some of the most unsavoury loyalist
leaders there are" were on the parade "in order to say we
have reclaimed this ground".

Mr Attwood called on the Orange Order to take
responsibility for who attends its marches.

"I am informing the Parades Commission of this information
and urging that this becomes a key factor and influence in
forthcoming Commission decisions," he said.

The Orange Order said it could not possibly know everybody
that was on the march.

"Given the serious rioting that occurred in Ardoyne which
put the lives of civilians and police officers at risk, we
are astounded that Alex Attwood has chosen to focus his
attention on peaceful supporters," said an Orange Order
spokeswoman.

"He would be better spending his time helping the PSNI to
identify those involved in the violence rather than taking
cheap shots at the Orange Order," she added.

The PSNI said it is currently studying the events of July
12 closely.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=652561

Plastic Bullets Used In Response To Blast Bombs, PSNI
Insists

By Chris Thornton
15 July 2005

The PSNI has rejected Continuity IRA claims in a dispute
over who struck first in the Twelfth riot in Ardoyne.

The terror group claimed that the use of plastic bullets -
the first time they were fired by police in three years -
sparked the blast bomb attacks that left police and
civilians injured.

But police said the new rounds were fired after the bomb
attacks began.

Police rejected the claim as it emerged that PSNI officers
battling the rioters asked senior commanders eight times
before they got permission to use the new plastic bullets.

Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan is currently investigating
the circumstances in which the 22 rounds - introduced last
month under Patten reforms and known as AEPs - were fired.

In a previous report on the PSNI response to a riot, Mrs
O'Loan said the police had not used them in a situation
where they would have been justified in firing them.

A person claiming to represent the Continuity IRA said the
group had 15 members who were armed with guns and bombs in
Ardoyne when the rioting broke out on Tuesday night as an
Orange parade passed.

"When the PSNI started firing plastic bullets at residents
we considered returning fire," the spokesman told Daily
Ireland. "We abandoned the idea because we were fearful
that many people could be injured. Instead, we decided to
use blast bombs on the PSNI."

The PSNI rejected that account. "Police would absolutely
and categorically refute any allegation that the attack on
officers with blast bombs on Tuesday night was a response
to action taken by police," a PSNI spokeswoman said.

"Police were working to deal with a serious public order
situation when, without warning, a number of blast bombs
were thrown at officers. Police took appropriate and
proportionate action to protect officers and members of the
public by using impact rounds in response. CCTV footage
clearly shows the situation as it unfolds."

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said he and many unionists were
"extremely sceptical" about the Continuity IRA's claim to
have been behind the Ardoyne attacks, but he said it
underlined a "grave terrorist threat" remains.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=652559

Hain Urged To Act On UVF Ceasefire

By David Gordon and Jonathan McCambridge
15 July 2005

Secretary of State Peter Hain was under growing pressure
today to review the UVF ceasefire after the loyalist terror
group killed two people in a fortnight.

The paramilitary organisation shot dead Craig McCausland in
north Belfast on Monday morning, 10 days after gunning down
Jameson Lockhart in the east of the city.

Police have linked both murders to a feud between the UVF
and LVF.

But while Mr Lockhart had connections to LVF members, Mr
McCausland's family is adamant that he had no involvement
in paramilitarism.

The UVF has also made repeated threats to "wipe out" the
LVF, most recently at an 11th night bonfire in east
Belfast.

The UVF's ceasefire is officially recognised by the
Northern Ireland Office, but the Government's position is
being questioned on both sides of the political divide.

An NIO spokesman today said: "The Secretary of State keeps
the position of all ceasefires under regular review."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has written to Mr Hain, asking him
assess the situation.

"No paramilitary group should be allowed to think that it
can murder with impunity," Mr Durkan said.

"Nor should any paramilitary group imagine that the rest of
us will turn a blind eye and ignore this carnage."

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson today said: "I think the
Government should keep all ceasefires of paramilitary
organisations under review at all times.

"It will be up to the Secretary of State to make an
assessment of recent incidents, not just with the UVF but
with regard to all groups.

"However it does strike me that if an organisation is
murdering people on the streets of Belfast then it is very
difficult to keep up an argument that you are on
ceasefire."

Anti-UVF campaigner Raymond McCord today labelled the
group's ceasefire "a sham and a farce".

Mr McCord, whose son Raymond Jnr was beaten to death by a
UVF gang in 1997, added: "When is the Secretary of State
going to give his assessment on the recent murders?

"We have seen and heard nothing from him. He's like the
invisible man."

Mr McCord said the UVF has killed more than 30 people since
its 1994 ceasefire declaration, most of them Protestants.

"The Northern Ireland Office appears to be saying that the
UVF's ceasefire is intact, as long they are not killing
Catholics."

The UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party,
has refused to comment on the Lockhart and McCausland
murders.

It lost £25,000 worth of Assembly allowances last year,
after a report to the Government by ceasefire watchdog, the
Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).

In its most recent report, in May this year, the IMC
branded the UVF as "active, violent and ruthless" and also
said it was "engaged in organised crime".

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=652478

Injured Man Not A Loyalist: Family

By Claire Regan
15 July 2005

The family of a young man shot and critically injured
during feuding between the UVF and LVF said last night they
are suffering "mental torture" from implications he was
involved with a loyalist group.

A statement issued by the family of north Belfast man David
Hanley denied suggestions he is linked to any paramilitary
organisation and said "they would not allow his good
character to be attacked".

The gun attack victim was fighting for his life in the
Intensive Care Unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital last
night when he should have been celebrating his 21st
birthday.

He has been critically ill since he was shot several times
as he walked his dog near the Crumlin Road on Sunday night.
The attack was blamed on the LVF and perceived to have been
linked to feuding between the terror group and UVF rivals.

A few hours later, 20-year-old Craig McCausland was shot
dead in a house in the Woodvale area early on Monday
morning. The UVF were blamed for the killing, which was
also linked to the feud.

Loyalist sources have said that neither victim was a member
of a paramilitary group. Mr McCausland's family have also
strongly denied he was in any terror group.

The Hanley family statement said: "The consensus of media
and political commentators' speculation infers that these
two men are simply casualties of the feud between the UVF
and the LVF, the inference being they were both involved in
these groups.

"The PSNI spokesmen and both paramilitary groups have
stated that these young men are not, and have never been,
members of these organisations. These statements are most
welcome.

"We request all media and political commentators to believe
what they are told by those sources, who are in possession
of the facts, to cease this damaging speculation and accept
the two young men are also two of the 'ordinary people of
north Belfast'.

"Implying that her son was associated with a paramilitary
group is nothing short of mental torture for his mother in
particular and the family circle in general.

"We were unable to prevent the attempted murder and the
horrendous injuries inflicted upon our son but please be
advised that we will not allow his good character to be
attacked by anyone using either express or implied terms."

The statement also offered "sincere condolences" to Craig
McCausland's family and condemned his killing "without any
reservations whatsoever".

"David reached his 21st birthday because of the skill of
the neuro-surgery and general surgery teams who worked on
his head and abdominal injuries respectively for 12 hours,"
the statement added.

"The skill of the ICU staff and their specialist equipment
is keeping him alive, he is still on the critical list and
will remain so for a long time."

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=652556

Speculation Mounting Over Provo Statement

By Chris Thornton
15 July 2005

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was in Dublin today to meet
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, reviving speculation about the
timing of a statement about the IRA's future.

More than three months have passed since Mr Adams made his
pre-election call for a "purely political" IRA - the move
that the British and Irish governments hope will unlock the
peace process.

The reported return to Ireland by decommissioning overseer
General John de Chastelain - his second trip in as many
months - has also raised expectations.

The IRA has reportedly consulted its members about the move
over the past three months, and that process has taken
longer than Mr Ahern's initial expectations.

In June the Taoiseach said he expected the IRA statement
before July 10. He later rolled that back to late July.

Republican sources say the IRA will not disband, but that
falls short of DUP demands.

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http://www.utvinternet.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?pt=n&id=62640

IRA 'Must Cut Ties With Organised Crime'

The Provisional IRA was today told it must meet 21st
century Irish democratic standards when it issues a
statement on its future.

By:Press Association

As Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams prepared to meet Irish
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Dublin amid renewed
speculation about the statement, nationalist SDLP Assembly
member P J Bradley said the Provisionals would have to
commit themselves to winding up all criminal and
paramilitary activity for good.

"That includes its involvement in organised crime, be it
theft, smuggling or dumping dangerous waste," the South
Down MLA said.

"There has got to be a clear and clean break with the past,
because nothing less than that will get all of the
Agreement working again.

"The Agreement is the will of the Irish people. It is the
best chance for all of us to make progress.

"Neither the IRA nor the DUP have the right to stand in its
way."

Speculation has been mounting in Belfast and Dublin in
recent days that an IRA response to Gerry Adams` call for
the organisation to pursue its goals exclusively through
democratic means is imminent.

Government officials and security chiefs have been on alert
for an IRA statement since the Twelfth of July Protestant
Orange Order marches.

However unionists insist the statement will only be
credible if the Provisionals prove over a period of time
they have ended involvement in all paramilitary and
criminal activity.

This includes an end to the recruiting of IRA members,
training, intelligence gathering and targeting, weapons
importation and involvement in violence and expulsions.

But they also want the Provisionals to sever all
involvement in organised crime such as robberies, the
manufacturing and sale of counterfeit goods such as DVDs,
CDs and computer games, the smuggling and sale of black
market alcohol, tobacco and petrol and the laundering of
money raised through criminal enterprises.

Mr Bradley said today the British and Irish Governments
also needed to end loyalist violence, criminal and
paramilitary activity.

But he also said the IRA`s statement would have to
acknowledge that it could no longer administer its own
version of justice.

"All paramilitary groups must accept the standards of Irish
democracy in the 21st century," he said.

"They must accept the rule of law, and not stand in the way
of lawful authorities on the island who enforce it.

"Priority must also be given in any IRA statement to the
issue of The Disappeared.

"Thirty years of Troubles left thousands of children,
spouses, mothers, fathers and other relatives of those
murdered with a cross to carry for the remainder of their
lives.

"The relatives of `The Disappeared` also have that cross to
bear with the additional burden brought about by the
heartbreak of not knowing how or why their relatives died
and where their mortal remains lie hidden."

Ulster Unionist deputy leader Danny Kennedy also claimed
the Provisional movement had a lot of convincing to do if
the people of Northern Ireland were to take its words
seriously.

The Newry and Armagh MLA said that no matter what an IRA
statement said, his party and the unionist community would
judge the Provisionals on their actions not their words.

"The public have grown weary of con jobs and stunts and the
same old lies from Sinn Fein," he said.

"Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and their comrades in the
Provisional movement have a lot of hard work to do if they
are to bridge the credibility gap with the people of
Northern Ireland.

"Their actions in the past six months prove that they are
still an armed and active terrorist group ready to cause
havoc and mayhem at a moment`s notice."

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http://www.utvinternet.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=62647&pt=n

Shell Sells Irish Operations

Shell's sold its entire Irish operations to an independent
business consortium.

Ion Equity`s bought a one hundred per cent shareholding,
acquiring the oil company`s retail and commerical
operations north and south of the border.

Topaz will trade as Shell at six importation facilities,
thirty five local distribution depots and hundred and sixty
filling stations across the country.

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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MAD20050715&articleId=697

Some Believe London Bombers Were Right-Wing Britons

by Wayne Madsen
July 15, 2005
Online Journal

Some informed British sources believe that the recent
London Transport bombings may have been the work of far
right-wing British terrorists hoping to stir up tensions
with the nation's large Muslim population.

There are several reasons for this belief. One is that GCHQ
and MI-5 intercepts of the communications of Muslim groups
in Britain and abroad—groups suspected of ties to
militants—revealed that targeted individuals and
organizations were genuinely surprised at the London
bombings. Another is the statement of former Metropolitan
London police commissioner Sir John Stevens that the
perpetrators were "almost certainly" British. Although many
accused Stevens of stirring up racial tensions, he never
referred to British Muslims. British Prime Minister Tony
Blair ruled out any probe of the bombings claiming it would
"distract" from the investigation.

Although U.S. and some British media were quick to point
blame at Muslim terrorists, little has been mentioned about
David Copeland who set off a nail bomb in the Admiral
Duncan pub on Old Compton Street in London's Soho in April
1999. The bomb killed three and injured 139. Copeland, a
22-year old electrical engineer and native of Hampshire,
wanted to start a war against non-whites and homosexuals
and believed he was a messenger from God. Copeland had a
fascination with Adolf Hitler and dreamt of being an SS
commander holding women sex slaves. Copeland was also
charged with setting off nail bombs in an Afro-Caribbean
neighborhood in Brixton and a Bangladeshi district in Brick
Lane. The British police dismissed a claim of responsibilty
for the Soho bombing by a fascist group called the White
Wolves, emphasizing that Copeland acted alone. It is also
significant that when he planned his terrorist bombings,
Copeland worked as an electrician on the London
Underground's Jubilee Line extension project. Copeland was
sentenced to six life terms in prison for the bombings.

There are reports that some members of British law
enforcement and intelligence maintain a liaison with
British fascist groups who are mainly centered in the
Kentish Town neighborhood of north London, a neighborhood
rife with Nazi posters, stickers, and graffiti. In addition
to Kentish Town, Roetherhithe and Eltham in southeast
London are bevies of fascist activities. British fascist
groups include the British National Front, National
Socialist Movement, and ex-members of Ulster paramilitary
loyalist groups. Another fascist group, Combat 18, was
established in 1992 as a security force for the National
Front. It was later discovered that MI-5 had infiltrated
Combat 18 to slip informants into loyalist paramilitary
cells in Northern Ireland.

Informed observers also point to the David Tovey case. In
2002, police searched Tovey's Oxfordshire home in an
investigation to find the source of a spate of racist
graffiti. According to The Guardian, police discovered much
more than spray paint cans in Tovey's home: an arsenal of
weapons (including a Baikal pistol with silencer),
explosives (including PE4 plastic explosive, which is used
by the British Army), bomb making equipment, NATO body
armor, maps where mosques were located, British National
Front literature, and license plate numbers of African and
Asian individuals. Police learned that Tovey was involved
in a right-wing gang that was placing anti-white graffiti
in public toilets in Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. As with
Copeland, police said they determined Tovey was a loner.

On July 12, The Times of London revealed that the
explosives used in the London Transport bombings were
military-grade explosives and investigators emphasized they
believed the bombers were British and worked in small
cells. Furthermore, although the British police are putting
out information that suicide bombers were involved in the
London bombings, Vince Cannistraro, the former CIA counter-
terrorism chief, told The Guardian that "two unexploded
bombs" were recovered along with "mechnical timing
devices." It goes without saying that suicide bombers would
not have been using timing devices.

The belief that British right-wing terrorists may have
carried out the London train bombings coincides with a
major Italian investigation of ties between far-right
Italian groups, Italian law enforcement personnel, U.S.
Defense Department covert operations agents, and Jihadist
terrorists.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative
journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is
author of the forthcoming book, "Jaded Tasks: Big Oil,
Black Ops & Brass Plates." He is the editor and publisher
of the Wayne Madsen Report.

Posted by: Unknown / 8:44 AM
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