BBC - Bomb blast in Birmingham The blast caused little damage to the immediate surroundings

An explosion that rocked Birmingham city centre is being blamed on Irish dissidents.

The blast happened at 2230GMT on Saturday, in a car parked close to New Street railway station, but no-one was injured despite the area being packed with revellers.

Police immediately ruled out any link to the 11 September attacks - saying a warning was given, but too late to deactivate the device.

Chief Constable of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Sir Ronnie Flanagan indicated that the Real IRA was the main suspect for the bomb blast.

He told BBC's Breakfast with Frost: "Even though it is at an early stage, we do believe it is a dissident grouping - probably that group that is behind this.

"They want to demonstrate that they are still there."

Click here to see where the blast happened

Bomb disposal experts have sealed off a 1,000m area around the site, on Smallbrook Queensway.

It is believed that only the detonator of a device exploded.

Decontamination experts were also called to the scene after passers-by reported seeing white powder come from the car, covering nearby police officers.

But use of anthrax was ruled out. The substance was believed to be stuffing from the car's seats.

The blast came just hours after politicians in Northern Ireland found a way to rescue the peace process, which was thrown into disarray when David Trimble failed to be re-elected as first minister.

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid said the Birmingham attack was an attempt to prevent the province from finding a resolution.

He told BBC's Breakfast with Frost: "Where there's instability in the democratic institutions then the men of violence will try to wreck this peace process.

"We saw it last night again in the course of the night in Birmingham."

Chief Inspector Ellie Bird, of West Midlands Police, said the explosion had taken place on a busy street at a time when many people were heading for nearby nightspots.

She said: "We are concerned this could have had serious consequences."

The blast caused no damage to nearby buildings and the car, which was not totally destroyed, was believed to have been an Audi.

A man who parked his car near to the scene of the explosion just a few minutes before the blast said he had had a fortunate escape.

Paul Taylor, of Sutton Coldfield, said: "I have been told I might not be able to return to my car until this evening. The area was very busy at the time and I would say there were at least a thousand people told to evacuate the area."

Security in the city is being stepped up, especially with many high-profile guests arriving for the CBI's annual conference, including Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Birmingham was the target of one of the Provisional IRA's worst atrocities when two pubs were blown up in 1974, leaving 21 people dead and scores injured. The pubs stood just 150 yards from the site of the latest blast.

The BBC's Yvette Shapiro said forensic experts were examining the scene and debris to see if it could be linked a particular terror group.

"If it is the work of the dissident group known as the Real IRA it is very much a hallmark of their work," she said.

The Real IRA, who are opposed to the IRA ceasefire, are believed to be behind a string of attacks on the mainland in recent months, including a car bomb in Ealing High Street in West London last August. Seven people were injured.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Answers

Monday November 5, 2:36 AM

Real IRA blamed for car explosion in English city

LONDON (Reuters) - A car bomb explosion in the English city of Birmingham was likely to be the work of guerrillas opposed to the Northern Irish peace process, police said on Sunday.

No one was hurt in Saturday night's blast because only the detonator exploded but police said the device could have killed if it had fully exploded in the busy area, which was packed with night club and bar revellers.

West Midlands police said the bomb was similar in size to devices planted in London outside the BBC's headquarters and at a postal centre earlier this year.

"Had it fully detonated in the busy city centre on a Saturday night we would have sustained very serious loss of life indeed and serious structural damage to the city," Birmingham's Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sims told reporters.

"This incident fits a pattern of events involving Irish republican dissident groups, probably the Real IRA."

Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry of London's Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist branch has joined the investigation.

Ronnie Flanagan, chief of the newly-renamed Police Service of Northern Ireland, also said the Real IRA were the most likely culprits.

"We do believe it is...probably that group that is behind this," he told BBC Television. "They would want to demonstrate this day that they are still there."

REFUSED TO ACCEPT PEACE DEAL

The Real IRA, which refused to accept a 1998 peace accord in Northern Ireland, carried out the province's worst single atrocity that year when a car bomb killed 29 people in Omagh.

After the Irish Republican Army destroyed some of its weapons last month, political allies of the Real IRA said it would pick up the mantle of armed struggle against Britain.

Police had received warnings before Saturday night's explosion, but they came too late to act.

A Reuters photographer said the blast looked to have been minor. He said the car -- a gold Audi -- had its boot blown off, while the car behind it had a damaged windscreen and there was debris in the road.

A mile-wide area around the car was cordoned off and bomb disposal experts were examining the site.

The blast came just hours after Northern Irish politicians found a way to save the British-ruled province's peace process.

The process had been thrown into disarray on Friday when Protestant leader David Trimble failed to be re-elected as first minister of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.

Trimble was given a second chance to return on Monday as pro-peace pact parties struck a deal aimed at outmanoeuvring his hardline opponents.

The Real IRA has been blamed for previous bomb attacks in Northern Ireland and Britain.

In March 2001, a car bomb rocked BBC television headquarters in west London and a north London postal centre was targeted twice in separate attacks in April and May.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001