Real IRA behind sabotage?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 3. Suspected Irish republican terrorists, opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process, struck in London on Thursday night as a powerful car bomb ripped through the western suburb of Ealing Broadway at midnight when pubs, restaurants and nightclubs in the area, close to the tube station, were crowded with late night revellers.

An immediate political reaction was that it was intended to sabotage the latest efforts to revive the Good Friday agreement but the British Government said it should strengthen the resolve to go ahead with the dialogue. The explosion, the impact of which was felt nearly a kilometre away, caused panic as people, many inebriated and screaming with fright, poured out into the street and the police warned of a possible second blast which, fortunately, did not happen. Seven persons, hit by flying glass, were injured and eyewitnesses described the scene as one of ``sheer chaos''. Police denounced it as a ``calculated and evil act aimed at killing and maiming'' people.

The bomb - a home-made device packed with military explosives - was placed in a Saab saloon parked close to a Burger King restaurant teeming with customers. A pub, close to the scene of the explosion, was packed with guests attending a musical event. The bomb exploded minutes after the police received a warning and were trying to get the people out of the area. Police said the location given in the warning was misleading which added to the confusion. They said it was a miracle that there had been no casualties.

The car was blown into bits, and buildings in the area had their windows shattered. The main road was flooded after a water main burst because of the impact of the explosion which one eyewitness said was like a ``jumbo jet exploding''. Thick clouds of smoke enveloped the neighbourhood as the ``bomb car'' went up in flames engulfing other vehicles in their path. ``I felt a huge shock wave then literally saw a roll of flame coming towards us. All the shop windows were smashed,'' one eyewitness said. A young couple who had just moved into the neighbourhood said their flat ``shook'', the windows came crashing down and they heard people ``screaming''. ``We were terrified,'' they said.

This is the second such explosion in less than six months. In March, a powerful bomb had exploded outside the BBC headquarters in West London - and that too had happened just about midnight indicating similarities in tactics. But last night's explosive was believed to be twice as deadly as the one that went off at the BBC. While no particular group had been identified until Friday afternoon, the blast was widely believed to be the work of the Real IRA. Experts said it had been the Real IRA's tactic to step up violence and divert attention whenever there was a chance of a breakthrough in the stalled peace process. The blast came two days after a bomb was found in a car park outside the Belfast international airport and follows reports that republican terrorists were likely to step up their campaign of violence in order to take advantage of the political vacuum created by the resignation of Mr. David Trimble as head of the provincial government.

The explosion triggered speculation about its impact on current negotiations whose success depends mainly on whether the IRA is willing to disarm. Some analysts believed that the blast was intended to warn the IRA against giving into the Unionist demand for disarmament. The Real IRA consists of extremists who broke away from the Provincial IRA after the latter joined the Good Friday Agreement. The renegade group has been trying to paint the IRA as a ``traitor'' to the Republican cause, saying that the Good Friday Agreement has not benefited Republicans.

Observers said that though the Real IRA, for all its muscle- flexing, was a ``marginal'' force its actions could have a ``psychological'' effect and slow down the momentum of the ongoing normalisation talks. The Sinn Fein, which began a meeting today to discuss the British and Irish governments' peace package, condemned the incident, and a Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair believed ``the way forward for Northern Ireland can only be through dialogue and that is why the Government has put forward its proposals.''

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr. John Reid described such acts of violence as pointless saying: ``Far from deflecting us, last night's barbaric attack should strengthen our resolve to reach agreement. No one will understand if we allow the solution that is within our grasp to slip away.'' A senior Sinn Fein leader, Mr. Gerry Kelly said the blast was aimed at undermining ``all our efforts to move the situation forward''. Another Sinn Fein leader put it more sharply. ``What it tells us is that we have a major responsibility on ourselves, all of us, including the Government, to implement the Good Friday Agreement which is what people in very high numbers voted for - that's what we've got to do,'' he said.

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