Plea over Omagh case witness

No-one has been convicted of the Omagh murders

An FBI spy's evidence in a landmark civil action against five men suspected of the Omagh bombing should be given from America in order to protect his life, a court has heard.

The opening stages of legal action by the families of the Omagh bomb victims against the men they accuse of carrying out the attack took place in Belfast on Friday.

Twenty-nine men, women and children died and hundreds were injured when the Real IRA detonated a car bomb in Omagh on 15 August 1998.

Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy are being sued by the Omagh Victims Civil Action Group.

There will be no convictions for murder because it is not a criminal case but the families could be awarded damages against the men they accuse.

Michael McKevitt was jailed for 20 years

It was confirmed in court on Friday that the key witness in the Dublin trial of the leader of the Real IRA is also to give evidence for the relatives in the civil action.

David Rupert, an FBI and MI5 spy, testified against Michael McKevitt who was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of directing terrorism.

Lord Brennan QC told how Mr Rupert, the trucking company boss turned agent who helped secure the 20-year sentence handed out to McKevitt, had placed huge pressures on the security services during the trial in Dublin last year.

He said: "David Rupert's involvement in that trial led to the most elaborate security measures which represented a great strain on security personnel services.

"It cost a great deal of money but most important of all it was required to protect the life of David Rupert.

"We will make an application at an appropriate time for David Rupert to give evidence by way of video link between the United States and this court."

Outside the High Court, spokeperson for the relatives Michael Gallagher described it as an "historic day".

"Today has been an important step in our civil legal action and a giant step down the road to justice," he said.

Some of the Omagh relatives attended the hearing

"After a three-year battle we are now at court and on way to trial. We promised our loved ones and supporters that we would not falter in pursuing this matter to the end."

McKevitt, 53, from Blackrock in County Louth, was also found guilty of membership of an illegal organisation at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin last August.

Mr Rupert, an American, was an informer for the special branch of the Irish police and was paid to infiltrate the ranks of dissident republicans.

Council for three of the defendants Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus McKenna said there would be doubts about legal aid for their clients.

Mr Justice Higgins said legal aid issues would not be a barrier to the advancement of the case and set a date for the next hearing in January 2005, with a review in June of this year.

In August last year, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy announced that the government would provide £800,000 towards the legal costs of the civil action.

Daly, McKevitt, Campbell and Murphy are serving sentences in the Irish Republic for Real IRA membership.

Murphy, a Dundalk-based builder and publican, was sentenced to 14 years in January 2002 for plotting the Omagh attack.

Campbell was jailed for five years in October 2001.

Solicitors acting for the victims' group served writs on the five suspects in 2002.