RUC warns of Real IRA's 'potential for devastation'

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RUC warns of Real IRA's 'potential for devastation'

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The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, claimed yesterday that the firepower and organisation of the dissident republicans behind the Ealing bomb were approaching the levels of the Provisional IRA at its height.

Sir Ronnie said that the force had achieved a series of notable successes against the Real IRA but warned of the terrorists' growing strength.

As inquiries continued on both sides of the Irish Sea yesterday, Sir Ronnie said he had "suspicions" about those responsible for the bombing but lacked the evidence to prosecute. He said the police had succeeded in minimising the effect of the Real IRA but warned against underestimating the dissidents' potential. "They are a very real threat and if you plotted their terrorist capability against the growth curve of, for example, that of the Provisional IRA, and its capabilities, you would find these people are a distance along the curve.

"So the public must be vigilant, the public must be alert to possibilities of suspicious activity and must alert the police when they see suspicious activity whether it is in Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland," he said.

Sir Ronnie said he had "no doubt" that the bombers would be brought to justice but the full support of the public would be needed to continue the fight against the group.

"It is only in that atmosphere of co-operation that we can bring to an end the activity that these people seek to engage in," he told BBC 1's Breakfast with Frost programme.

Meanwhile, detectives were last night expected to complete their trawl for scientific evidence at the scene of the blast that injured 11 people. The clear-up operation follows the bomb blast in a busy west London street close to Ealing Broadway underground station at midnight on Thursday.

The 88lb fertiliser-based device left in a grey Saab 9000 saloon car was bigger than the Omagh bomb in 1998 that killed 29 people. Last week's bombing caused the highest casualty toll in mainland Britain since the Manchester attack in June 1996.

Ten people were staying in hotels yesterday because of damage to their property and up to 50 buildings were still without electricity. Much of the town centre remained sealed off over the weekend.

Father Peter Needham, the assistant priest at Christ the Saviour in Ealing, who helped to care for people following the blast, yesterday led prayers for those injured in the explosion. Only one person, a 28-year-old man, remained in hospital yesterday and was "stable" after undergoing surgery to clean and set a broken and dislocated shoulder. Andrea Carragher, 23, was discharged yesterday after treatment for back and thigh injuries from flying glass.

Father Needham said: "It is important that this service happens every Sunday. If this service is stopped then the bombers have their way because they stop the freedom of our own minds and souls."

He called on worshippers to ask for forgiveness for the terrorists and spoke of his relief that nobody had been killed.

He told the congregation: "When I got there, there weren't any limbs lying around, there weren't any young people's bodies hanging out of club windows. There was a great sense of relief and thanksgiving."

Scotland Yard officers said the attack could signal a "murderous" new phase in the campaign by extremists opposed to the ailing Northern Ireland peace process.

Police received a warning 27 minutes before the blast and said it was lucky nobody died.

Officers were continuing to search for a pock-marked man who bought the car last month from a London dealer.