Reid attacks 'unfair' Omagh leak

Ulster Secretary John Reid today condemned as "grossly unfair" the leaking of a report indicating that Special Branch failed to act on a tip-off on the Omagh bombing in which 29 were killed.

The report into the RUC's handling of the atrocity in August 1998 is said to claim that Special Branch in the province did not pass on details of the warning, which came 11 days before the Real IRA struck.

Police ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Nuala O'Loan, is understood to confirm significant shortcomings in the investigation into the bombing in his report. It was the worst single outrage in the 30 years of bloodshed in Northern Ireland. The report was due to be handed over to relatives of the victims next week, but a draft copy had been sent to Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flangan, who is to retire next year.

Mr Reid today appeared to claim that there was no specific warning that there would be a bomb in Omagh.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "I want to first of all condemn utterly the leaking of an unfinished report before those mentioned in it and affected by it have a chance to submit their views.

"It is grossly unfair to the police but it's also grossly unfair to the families. They have gone through enough grief." He said it was wrong to suggest that Special Branch could have avoided the bombing. I'm not getting into the comments of the reports but there was no warning that there would be a bomb in Omagh.

"I have confidence in the Chief Constable, I have confidence in the ombudsman and I have confidence in people to respond to the finished report where the disputed facts have at least been responded to."

A Northern Ireland police spokesman said last night: "We consider this report contains so much significant factual inaccuracies, unwarranted assumptions, misunderstandings and material omissions that a request has been made to the ombudsman's office for a reasonable period of time to respond in detail with what we see as the serious deficiencies in this report."

Police have faced claims that in the run-up to the atrocity they were guilty of confusion at senior levels. There was also said to have been an insufficient exchange of information with police in the Irish Republic, who carried out their own investigation.

Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann was killed by the bomb, said he was shocked and deeply hurt by the report's contents.