FBI agent Mr David Rupert told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday that the alleged leader of the "Real IRA", Mr Michael McKevitt, told him that the August 1998 Omagh bombing, the worst terrorist atrocity in the history of the Troubles, was a joint operation by the "Real IRA" and the Continuity IRA.
Mr Rupert said Mr McKevitt told him during his first face-to-face meeting with him at the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan in September 1999 that he claimed "20 per cent responsibility" for Omagh and gave "80 per cent" to the Continuity IRA.
Mr McKevitt said the "Real IRA" had acquired the car and built the bomb but had given it to the Continuity IRA to pick the target and deliver it. Mr Rupert said Mr McKevitt was "horribly upset" because the bomb had gone to Omagh. He was also upset because the original place intended for the bomb was closed to parking so it had been driven down the road and placed where it exploded, killing 29 people.
"He said the boys should have just driven it out the country but they drove it down the road and parked it and created the Omagh atrocity," he added.
Mr Rupert (51), an American who ran a trucking business and who agreed to infiltrate dissident republicans for the FBI and the British Security Service, told the court of his first encounter with Mr McKevitt, the first person charged in the Republic with directing terrorism. He said they clicked right away.
Mr Rupert also said he was on a contract with the FBI for $2,500 a month plus expenses from February 1997 to supply intelligence on dissident republicans and that he later agreed to work for the British Security Service. Mr Rupert said he bought an off-the-shelf encryption software package that he used to send e-mails to the FBI and MI5 after each encounter in Ireland.
It was the fourth day of the trial of Mr McKevitt (53), Blackrock, Co Louth, who has pleaded not guilty to two charges - membership of an unlawful organisation, the IRA, between August 29th, 1999, and March 28th, 2001, and to directing its activities between March 29th, 1999, and October 23rd, 2000.
Mr Rupert told Mr George Birmingham SC, prosecuting, that he met Mr Micky Donnelly from Derry when he attended a Republican Sinn Féin Ardfheis in Dublin. He said Micky Donnelly appeared to be "extremely militaristic". His impression of Republican Sinn Féin was "let's talk about it, let's collect money for it, but let's not do anything about it because we might end up in jail", but Micky Donnelly's attitude was "let's do some damage".
Mr Rupert said that in late 1999 he met veteran Co Donegal republican Joe O'Neill. At Joe O'Neill's direction, he got in contact in the US with Frank O'Neill who was involved in the Irish Freedom Committee, the main dissident republican group in Chicago.
Mr Rupert said that through his contacts, he had become "a major sidekick of the Irish Freedom Committee in the United States". About the same time Donnelly started talking to him about a new grouping that was forming from remnants of the "Real IRA". He spoke about Bernadette Sands McKevitt and Micky McKevitt.
Mr Rupert said that Donnelly suggested to him that "higher ups" wanted to meet him and when he reported this to his British Security Service contacts, he was told to hold back and see what developed.
Mr Rupert said Donnelly told him he was on the army council of the new group and he envisaged him (Rupert) as being the "ace in his pocket" because he would bring in money for the group from the US.
One Sunday morning in September 1999, Donnelly arranged a meeting at the Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell but when they got there the meeting was rearranged for the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan.
There two men came in, Michael McKevitt and Séamus McGrane, and they joined himself, Donnelly and Philip Kent. "We had a meeting in the middle of the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel, sitting around having tea," Mr Rupert said.
Mr Rupert said he sat directly across from Mr McKevitt and he was introduced to Mr McGrane as head of training for the army. "The meeting went real smooth. I liked Mr McKevitt - he was pretty personable. I liked him, I felt the feeling was mutual," he said.
They talked about what happened in June 1999 when there was an army conference on a beach in Inishowen where members of the Continuity Army, the INLA, the "Real IRA" and some members of the Provisional IRA all came together under the new name of Óglaigh na hÉireann.
He was told that Mr McKevitt's position was not head of the army council because he didn't want it to be known as his army. "I took it to be that he was the man in charge," Mr Rupert added.
Mr McKevitt claimed that he had taken about 98 per cent of the Continuity IRA, all of the "Real IRA", a number of INLA and a few members of the Provisional IRA. Mr Rupert said he was told that they were in the process of retraining the Continuity and getting ready for a campaign.
"They had licked their wounds and hopefully had got by Omagh," he said.
Mr Rupert said Mr McKevitt told him there was "a dire need of money to help buy weapons" and there was a contract between the Continuity and the group, which took place in the Balkans.
He said Des Long of the Continuity IRA came to the table with the contract for the weapons and wanted to split the weapons with Mr McKevitt who had set up the transportation arrangements but the Continuity never came up with its share of the money and Micky Donnelly got the money, finished the deal and got all the weapons.
Mr Rupert said that he was given a command structure to report to and the structure was he was to report to Mr McKevitt number one, to Liam Campbell, number two and to Bernadette Sands McKevitt, number three.
They discussed the Omagh bomb which, Mr Rupert, said was "a black mark even to the hardest of hard core republicans." Mr McKevitt said there had been an agreement for a joint claim between the "Real IRA" and the Continuity IRA for the bomb but the "Real IRA" claimed responsibility and then Ruairí Ó Bradaigh made a speech denouncing the bomb. "It left the 'Real IRA' in a hot spot," he added.
Mr McKevitt also mentioned a campaign in England against military and financial targets. He said he had a four-man squad of "lily whites" who were technical and computer people and they were to carry out cyber-terrorism.
Mr McKevitt also said they were working on new detonation techniques but car-bombs were out because of Omagh. They were working on telephone detonation but were worried about people ringing a wrong number.
Mr McKevitt also spoke about his role in getting arms from Col Gadafy in Libya.
The trial continues today.