THE mysterious republican splinter group, the Continuity Army Council, claimed it was responsible for yesterday's attempted car bomb attack in Derry city.
The 600lb bomb was left outside the RUC's headquarters at Strand Road near the city centre, despite an intensive security search operation on both sides of the Border outside Derry.
The bomb, made of commercial explosives mixed with fertiliser, had been packed into 13 plastic bags and loaded into a car hijacked earlier yesterday in Antrim. It was defused by British army bomb disposal experts.
A man claiming to represent the "IRA Continuity Army Council" telephoned warnings about the bomb to local media offices. He gave no recognised codename.
The same republican paramilitary group bombed the Protestant owned Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, at the height of the loyalist confrontation at Drumcree, Co Armagh, during July. The building was barely cleared when the bomb exploded, but no one was injured.
The CAC also attempted to plant a car bomb in Belfast in August, but it was intercepted and defused.
Gardai and the RUC yesterday appeared to have had advance notice of an attack. They conducted extensive search operations on both sides of the Border near Derry. The search, involving gardai and Irish soldiers as well as British soldiers and RUC officers, was concentrated between the Donegal villages of Carrigans and Burnfoot.
Security sources said the joint search resulted directly from last Monday's command wire discovery in Groarty Road, Derry, near the Border, when the RUC says it foiled an IRA bomb attack on the security forces.
A Garda spokesperson said it had been asked to provide security for RUC officers searching the Northern side of the Border.
The CAC supports the political position of the splinter republican group, Republican Sinn Fein but gardai believe it may be assisted by Provisional IRA members.
It was also pointed out that a call claiming to come from the CAC was made immediately after the Provisional IRA's bombing of the British army headquarters in Lisburn, Co Antrim, in September but this proved to be a hoax. But it seemed likely last night that the splinter group was indeed responsible for the attempted bombing in Derry.
Dozens of buildings, including the police station and the adjoining North West Institute of Further and Higher Education, were immediately evacuated.
Members of the public were kept 300 yards away as British army technical officers moved in to check the vehicle. Shortly before 1 p.m. a controlled explosion was carried out. Bomb disposal officers then used a remote controlled robot to lift several plastic bags from the car wreckage.
RUC officers announced just after 3 p.m. that a large car bomb had been defused. Members of the RUC's scene of crime section then sifted through the wreckage while forensic officers examined the plastic bags of explosives before the bomb was taken away for laboratory tests.
Supt Derek Browne, who is in charge of city centre security in Derry, said the attempt to blow up the police station was "another manifestation of continuing terrorist events.
"This is the last thing people in this city want in the run up to Christmas. Clearly I am going to have to review the whole security implications for the city as a result of this.
"This incident, as well as what we believe was an attempt to launch a bomb attack on the security forces at Groarty Road in the city last Monday, simply serves to strengthen our resolve to wage our activities against these people," he said.
Sinn Fein's Northern chairperson, Mr Gearoid O hEara, said the incident "showed the need for urgency in the search for a comprehensive negotiated settlement".
"It shows the need for all those interested in peace to redouble their efforts to remove all preconditions and obstacles to a truly meaningful peace process, he said.