A telephone caller claiming to represent the Continuity Army Council said it carried out yesterday's attempt to bomb a government office in Derry. The building at Orchard House in Foyle Street, which houses 300 civil servants, was evacuated just minutes before the detonator exploded. A British army bomb disposal team then dealt with the device, which contained 1 1/2lb of Semtex and two gallons of petrol.
In a coded message to a local newsroom, a caller claiming to represent the CAC said: "We carried out the military operation on a British administrative centre in Foyle Street.
"The operation was carried out to remind the British government and those at the Stormont talking shop that there will be no peace in Ireland until the three traditional demands of republicanism are met, namely troops out, the release of all republican prisoners of war and the holding of an allIreland convention to draw up a new constitution for a 32-county Ireland.
"Our active service unit returned safely back to base."
A senior RUC officer said the bomber had jeopardised dozens of lives by carrying a faulty device through a crowded city centre.
"The fact that the detonator exploded and the main charge did not detonate proves that the device was faulty," said Chief Insp Bob Drennan.
"This building is close to the commercial heart of the city. Hundreds of people were in the vicinity of the building when the attack was carried out.
"I don't have to explain what the consequences would have been in terms of lives lost if this device had exploded. Had the bomb gone off, it would have sent out a massive fireball burning everything in its path."
The bomb was placed on the counter of the motor tax office. A member of staff there said the lone bomber came into the building just before 11 o'clock.
"A person wearing a balaclava mask approached the counter. He left a hold-all on the counter and told me there was a bomb in it. He had a handgun and said he was not joking.
"He then left and I went into the back office and told my supervisor, who alerted the rest of the staff, and we then all evacuated the building."
Dozens of nearby buildings were evacuated for several hours before the area was declared safe just after 3 p.m.
Chief Insp Drennan said the police believed the attack was carried out by "a republican terrorist organisation clearly out to destroy jobs and lives. They presumably set the timer for a short period."
The Mayor of Derry, Mr Martin Bradley, said he totally condemned the attack.
"The timing of this is very deliberate. Tomorrow we are expecting thousands of visitors from all over Ireland for our annual Hallowe'en carnival. What happened today is a very sick attempt by some depraved people to totally disrupt the peace we have here in Derry.
"This has been carried out by someone who had no concern for the people who live here," he said.