British prime minister Tony Blair has assured relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombings that there will be no amnesty for any persons convicted in connection with the 1998 attacks claimed on behalf of the Real IRA.
He also said he has not "ruled in or out" a positive response to the families' request for an eventual cross-Border public inquiry into the bombings, which claimed the lives of 29 people in the greatest single atrocity of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
This emerged last night after representatives of the victims and those injured in the bombings held their first direct meeting with Mr Blair over 45 minutes at 10 Downing Street.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden (21) was killed in the no-warning attacks, said Mr Blair had been "very supportive and as helpful as he could have been".
As the five-strong delegation had expected, the prime minister told them an official inquiry would be impossible at least until current criminal and civil court actions arising from the bombings were completed. However, the relatives said they had found Mr Blair "not fully up to speed" on the details of the case, although he promised to examine a dossier they presented making the case for an inquiry.
Mr Blair also assured the delegation that his government's controversial "on-the-runs" legislation dealing with fugitive terrorist suspects and others guilty of offences prior to the Belfast Agreement would not extend to any persons convicted in connection with the Omagh bombings, even if they were found to be members of Sinn Féin or the IRA.
Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son James died in Omagh, said: "The assurance we sought was that if there were any members of Sinn Féin or IRA that were involved in the Omagh bomb, whether or not they are on the run, they would receive no amnesty. That assurance was given us unequivocally."
He added they had had "a fair hearing". With two separate civil and criminal cases now expected to be heard sometime before next September, Mr Barker said: "We are realistic enough to know that we would never have a public inquiry in any case until the current cases are dealt with."
But he stressed the determination of the families to establish the truth. "Some of the people close to the prime minister have been a bit naïve in the way they have handled the Omagh bomb and they have underestimated the families' determination to get to the truth."