World

Arrests Made In N. Ireland Bombing

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 16, 1998 / 4:09 PM EDT / CBS

Police in Northern Ireland have arrested five suspects in connection with a deadly car bombing in the town of Omagh. The blast killed at least 28 people and injured more than 200. At least nine of the dead were children.

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Among those arrested was a relative of Omagh politician Dessie Mackey, who earlier this year resigned from the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party over its decision to accept the Northern Ireland peace agreement, the officer said.

Charges against any of the suspects were not imminent. Under Northern Ireland's anti-terrorist law, they could be questioned for up to a week before being charged or released.

Jimmy Barker (CBS)

The people of Omagh, a town where Protestants and Catholics lived peacefully side by side cannot comprehend why anyone would deliberately target women and children, and aim to kill as many as possible, reports CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton.

The bomb on the crowded main street on Saturday slaughtered women and children, indiscriminately killing both Catholics and Protestants.

The dead included two little boys, Jimmy Barker and Sean McLaughlin, and 17-year-old Brenda Logue.

Sean McLaughlin (CBS)

Many shops were still closed Monday morning, but life is slowly returning to a shell-shocked community. But the image of the carnage is still fresh in everyone's mind.

"It was like Vietnam here Saturday," said one townsman, who helped carry away some of the dead and wounded. "There were blood, bodies, arms, legs, everywhere. It's crazy."

He added, "Whoever did it has no mind, no heart."

A local woman said, "I don't know if there are any words left. I mean, I look down the street and realize how many small children and women and everybody that lost their lives."

People flocked to churches unday to pray as soldiers continued to look through piles of debris for bodies using heat-seeking devices.

Brenda Logue (CBS)

The time chosen for the attack (a Saturday afternoon) insured that the streets were full of shoppers. The advance warning telephoned by the bombers was cruelly misleading. It caused police to herd the crowds toward the end of town where the bomb was primed to go off.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern is vowing to "crush" the IRA dissident group blamed for the bloodiest day in decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair interrupted his vacation in France and flew to Belfast Sunday.

He told the BBC News of his country's commitment to work together to hunt down those responsible for the bombing.

Flowers at the bomb site (CBS)

"The future of Northern Ireland belongs to the decent people, not these criminals and psychopaths, we will carry on," Blair said.

The main target is the fragile peace agreement between Northern Ireland's Protestant majority and the Catholic minority. The new Northern Ireland government is due to begin business here next month, and President Clinton is scheduled to come to help the peace process along. This is clearly an attempt to sabotage that process.