Published: Thursday, 30th July, 2009 9:00am

Elliott advocating 'shoot to kill' claims Republican group

by Editorial Department

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A dissident Republican group have claimed that UUP MLA Tom Elliott has called for a "shoot to kill" policy to "wipe out" the threat from Republican groups, who are active in Fermanagh.

Mr. Elliott has refuted the accusation but stated: "If people are taking part in illegal activity and that's the only way to stop them; but obviously you can't just go out and shoot someone."

The disagreement arose after Mr. Elliott said that the £114 million savings that would be made as a result of the closure of Massereene, Aldergrove and Ballykinlear army bases should be spent on a "covert army presence to wipe out the Republican threat".

The Fermanagh based 32 County Sovereignty Movement (CSM) reacted angrily to these comments saying: "Comments by UUP MLA Tom Elliott that savings in the British security budget for the occupied six counties should be used to fund covert units of the British Army to 'wipe out' the threat from Republicans sounds suspiciously like a call for the SAS and other such units to re-engage in the practice of 'shoot to kill' against Republican separatists."

They added: "The calls for an additional £114 million to be allocated to the British Army units is cause for concern, particularly in the Fermanagh area where by their own admission, the RUC/PSNI have been forced of the roads and it has been revealed that covert British Army units are already established to counter the threat posed by Irish Republicans.

"The British security apparatus is already investing vast sums into the targeting and harassment of Republicans, their families and the wider Republican/Nationalist community across the six counties and calls for even more money to be made available are a tactit admission that the normalisation process is not going to plan, it is also proof, if it were needed, that Britain most certainly does have political, strategic and economic reasons for being in this part of Ireland.

"While all IRA volunteers and other insurgents fighting the British occupation in Ireland are aware of and accept the risk of death, it is our fear that allocating more resources to British killer gangs and comments like those of Tom Elliott could well result in the deaths of innocent nationalists and political activists as has happened so many times in our recent history."

In response Mr. Elliott said: "Clearly these are the people that are bringing us back to the past. All I would want is to have an army unit; I'm not calling for the army back on our streets, but a reasonable amount to deal with Republican incidents.

"When you see the level of dissident activity and the potential that it has to cause further disruption and mayhem I think it is a case of a stitch in time saves nine," he said.

"If they do something fairly proactive that could wipe out that threat. I am saying there needs to be a covert army presence to curtail that threat."

Mr. Elliott referred to the past when "army units went in and were able to clear an area quickly to allow police to do their job."

He said that the PSNI currently don't have the resources to attend every incident because of the dissident threat but that covert army units in the past "had certain equipment like helicopters" which allowed them to "carry out stream-lined searches with more man power."

Referring to the continued activity of the 32CSM in Fermanagh, Mr. Elliott said: "This is an organisation which is inextricably linked to the Real IRA Terrorist movement. The news that they are operating in Fermanagh, while not surprising, is not only upsetting for victims of paramilitary violence but is also extremely worrying. We know that they were present in Newtownbutler on the night of the annual band parade, where Republican youths sought to create trouble when it was completely unnecessary. They are a group who thrive on disillusionment and are hell-bent on pulling Northern Ireland backwards. They are a reminder of a failed past when Republicans believed they could bomb and murder their way into a United Ireland."