The RUC has reconstructed the timing unit used in the Omagh bomb. This resulted from an exercise in which a specialist unit from the London Metropolitan Police sifted through 30 tonnes of rubble from the blast. Police now hope to identify the bomb-maker behind the device. The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, said the timing power unit resembled six others used in attacks by the `Real IRA'. All were packed into identical plastic sandwich boxes.
Scotland Yard's SO13 antiterrorist unit was brought in by Mr Flanagan, who said a "tremendous amount of valuable evidence" had been recovered. "We have been able virtually to reconstruct the timing power unit that was used in this bomb." He had no doubt this would help lead to the perpetrators of the blast.
The unit hopes to finish today its detailed examination of the rubble, stored in 13 skips and 17 wheeled dustbins. The debris was collected from the bomb scene and taken to a British army base in Belfast where the Scotland Yard team of 10, backed by six RUC men, have been working around the clock since last Friday.
In a separate development, the Police Authority for Northern Ireland said it was facing a £14 million budget crisis because of the extra policing costs imposed by the Drumcree events last July.
The chief executive, Mr Joe Stewart, said: "Government must make cash available to meet the shortfall as the prospect of making significant cuts to an already cashstrapped police service, during the current security environment, is unpalatable to both the authority and the Chief Constable."
He continued: "The cost of policing the Drumcree stand-off, other contentious parades and associated protests and the ongoing terrorist activity has placed huge financial pressures on the authority and the police budget."