Posted on 10/07/2001 9:31:45 PM PDT by Stentor
FBI closes website linked to Real IRA
BY IAN COBAIN
THE FBI has begun an offensive against American supporters of the Real IRA as part of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism.
Federal agents have ordered an Internet company to close a website that was operating as a front for the group behind the 1998 Omagh bombing that claimed 29 lives. HyperVine, an Internet service provider, says the FBI threatened to seize its assets if it did not immediately close the site used by IRAradio.com, which was raising funds for the Real IRA.
The move came after the discovery that among the material posted on the site were addresses in the Irish Republic to which listeners were invited to send donations for the IRA splinter group. One was a PO Box number for "letters of support" for Michael McKevitt, the alleged former leader of the Real IRA who is facing trial in Dublin, accused of directing terrorism.
More action is expected to stem the flow of funds from America to the Real IRA and its political wing, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
An FBI spokeswoman said the agency would not discuss the move against the Internet company because it had been triggered by the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. "Due to the scope and sensitivity of the entire terrorist investigation, we are not commenting," she said. HyperVine confirmed that the FBI had expressed an interest in a site. A spokesman said: "We're going to verify that this was the FBI who called. If there's a law, we are going to comply with it. We are going to be good corporate citizens."
President Bush outlawed the Real IRA in May after being petitioned by the British and Irish Governments. In designating the group a foreign terrorist organisation, he made it illegal for American citizens to donate money, and enabled the State Department to deny visas to its members. Furthermore, US financial institutions are now obliged to freeze the Real IRA's assets.
There was little sign of action against Real IRA supporters in the United States before September 11, but anti-republican sentiment has been hardening since the terrorist strikes.
Bob McManus, an Irish-American columnist commenting in the New York Post on Sinn Fein's offer to raise funds for victims of the World Trade Centre attack, asked: "Will Gerry Adams be able to keep a straight face as he speaks on behalf of the victims of Islamic fundamentalist terror? That would require true subtlety. But he's managed to scrub sufficient blood from his hands to make himself a regular at the White House, so anything is possible."
In a mocking editorial last week, The Wall Street Journal said: "Poor Gerry Adams. He's so misunderstood. No one, not even the Boston Irish, wants to be friends with terrorists any more."
The FBI approached HyperVine last Tuesday at its offices in South Bend, Indiana, and ordered the closure of IRAradio.com.
Yes, they can.
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