Page 9 - atoday

WORLD NEWS 9
Wednesday 2 March 2016

Case collapses against Real IRA Spain:
Socialists face uphill task to form government
man charged for Omagh bomb

S. POGATCHNIK the bomb parked outside CIARAN GILES
Associated Press a shop selling school uni-
DUBLIN (AP) — The Real forms. Most of those slain Associated Press
IRA veteran charged with were women and chil-
murdering 29 people in dren, including a mother MADRID (AP) — Spain’s
Omagh walked free from 9 months’ pregnant with
prison Tuesday after pros- twins. At the time, public Socialist party leader
ecutors concluded that horror over the Omagh
the evidence against him atrocity spurred an island- pledged Tuesday to bring
— particularly a witness wide security crackdown
supposed to place him in on those IRA factions down unemployment,
the Northern Ireland town that refused to back the
that day — was too weak. peace. The British and Irish roll back labor reforms
Seamus Daly had spent prime ministers and U.S.
nearly two years in prison President Bill Clinton visited enacted in the name of
awaiting trial for the Aug. the scene of destruction
15, 1998, car bomb at- and vowed to isolate the austerity and mount a
tack on a crowd of shop- extremists. But in the near-
pers, workers and tourists. ly 18 years since, those corruption crackdown if a
His case joined a string IRA factions remain active
of failed prosecutions and Omagh has become majority of parliamentary
against the alleged Real a byword for justice de-
IRA figures long blamed nied. Police have testified deputies back his bid to
for the deadliest single in court that telecommu-
bombing of the entire nications tower records form a new government
Northern Ireland conflict. document how a cell-
Daly, 45, did serve a brief phone allegedly used by following an inconclusive
prison sentence in the Daly traveled across the
Republic of Ireland after Irish border to Omagh on December election.
pleading guilty in 2004 to the day of the attack. A
membership in the Real witness, Denis O’Connor, But Pedro Sanchez faces
IRA, one of several out- who previously testified
lawed factions all styling that Daly used that phone an uphill battle because
themselves as the “true” to call him from Omagh a
Irish Republican Army. half-hour after the blast, lack of support from other
These small, feud-prone performed badly on the
gangs reject the cease- stand last week during a parties suggests he won’t Spain’s Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez, left, shakes hands
fire observed since 1997 preliminary hearing de- for the media with Ciudadanos Party president Albert Rivera
by the major group, the signed to test evidence. succeed even though the before a meeting at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain.
Provisional IRA. “He sounded not a cred-
The Real IRA planted a ible witness at all, a very issues he highlighted are (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
string of car bombs in untruthful witness. I would
Northern Ireland towns in not want anybody to the ones Spanish voters
1998 in a bid to undermine be convicted on that
support for that year’s evidence,” said Michael identify as most important.
Good Friday peace ac- Gallagher, who has cam-
cord, which sought to end paigned since 1998 for Sanchez’s party came Popular Party that ran the government because he
a three-decade conflict the Real IRA bomb unit re- country from 2011-2015 lacked support. Sanchez’s
that claimed 3,700 lives. sponsible to be brought to in second in the Dec. 20 came in first, but didn’t Socialists won 90 seats
Police prevented deaths justice. Nobody has been win back its majority in the and have support from
in several other car bomb- successfully prosecuted election as voters angry 350-seat lower house of Ciudadanos, which won
ings with swift evacua- for the crime. parliament. Acting Prime 40 — but that’s far short of
tions. Gallagher, whose 21-year- with Spain’s political Minister Mariano Rajoy, the 176 needed to win the
But on that unusually sun- old son Aiden died in the who now presides over a parliamentary government
ny Saturday in Omagh, attack, noted that three status quo upended the caretaker government, formation vote Wednesday
police responding to high-profile attempts to refused to try to form a night.
vague telephone warn- convict alleged members country’s traditional two-
ings ordered people away of the Omagh bombing
from the town’s hilltop team all have failed be- party system by giving
courthouse down Market cause of weak, disputed
Street — and straight to or overturned evidence. strong support to a pair of

upstarts: far-left Podemos

and business-friendly

Ciudadanos. The country’s

UK revises draft Internet spy law criticism

JILL LAWLESS place a patchwork of ex- the bill could weaken en-
Associated Press isting laws and define the cryption,
LONDON (AP) — The Brit- scope and limits of surveil- which is key to ensuring
ish government says it has lance in the digital age. online shopping and other
amended a proposed In- It gives police and spies activities can be conduct-
ternet surveillance law to broad powers to obtain ed securely.
strengthen privacy protec- browsing records and re- The new version of the bill
tions after criticism from quires telecommunications says Internet companies
lawmakers. companies to keep records can only be asked to re-
But critics say the legislation of customers’ Web histories move encryption that they
gives police unprecedent- for up to a year. have applied, and only
ed power to look at the The legislation has been re- when it is “practicable.”
Internet browsing history of vised after scrutiny by com- It also says police forces
everyone in Britain. mittees of lawmakers, who can access Internet con-
Home Secretary Theresa recommended changes to nection records — a list of
May published the Investi- protect privacy and spell websites, apps and mes-
gatory Powers Bill on Tues- out authorities’ powers saging services someone
day, saying she hoped it more clearly. has visited, though not
would get parliamentary Internet companies includ- the individual pages they
approval and become law ing Facebook, Google, Mi- looked at or the messages
by the end of the year. crosoft, Twitter and Yahoo they sent — in pursuit of “in-
The bill is intended to re- also raised concerns that vestigative leads.”