Bomb alerts cause chaos in London; links to Irish groups suspected

Police close a street near Victoria Station in central London on Wednesday after a bomb was found

July 19, 2000
Web posted at: 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT)

LONDON (Reuters) -- British police destroyed an explosive device found in west London on Wednesday and the government accused dissident Irish guerrillas of planting it.

The bomb alert triggered a series of security scares that brought transport chaos to the capital hours before celebrations in central London of the Queen Mother's 100th birthday.

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Scotland Yard police headquarters said bomb squad officers detonated the device found in the suburb of Ealing near a main railway line into the city center.

The controlled explosion followed tip offs from the Irish capital Dublin early on Wednesday.

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The British government was quick to blame the attack on renegade guerrillas opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process.

"It certainly appears that this attack was carried out by dissidents but we shall be pursuing this matter and pinning down who is responsible for it," Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson told parliament.

Dissident Irish republican guerrillas were blamed by security sources when a bomb damaged a bridge over the River Thames in west London in June, causing no casualties.

The bridge remains closed.

Police in Belfast last month blamed splinter republican group the Real IRA -- an offshoot of the Irish Republican Army -- for a small bomb that disrupted rail services between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic on June 30.

Mandelson told parliament that tip-off callers used the same code word on Wednesday as was used in the June 30 attack and in other incidents and hoaxes.

The organizers of a pageant to be held later on Wednesday for the centenary of the Queen Mother -- mother of Queen Elizabeth and widow of her predecessor King George VI -- said the device was aimed at disrupting their celebrations.

"A number of threatening phone calls were received by a number of organizations in Dublin. The suspicious device found ...was an explosive device," a police spokeswoman said. "We wouldn't rule anything out at this stage."

Police meanwhile were investigating further security alerts at the central London underground rail stations of Victoria and Westminster, near the houses of parliament.

Both stations were evacuated and cordoned off.

The offices of U.S. investment bank Salomon Smith Barney above Victoria station were also evacuated, a telephone operator told Reuters.

But police did not discover any other explosive devices.

London Underground said it had suspended services on parts of several lines in central London at the request of police.

The overground rail service to London's Heathrow airport was completely suspended.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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