The RUC believes it has prevented a dissident republican bomb attack in Belfast. Two men are being questioned at Gough Barracks in Armagh after a car containing a bomb was intercepted yesterday.
Police sources said those detained are a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth. It is understood they were known to the security forces. The RUC officers involved in the operation were members of the SAS trained Mobile Support Unit.
Condemning those responsible, the RUC acting Assistant Chief Constable, Mr George Livingstone, said that after President Clinton's message of peace just 24 hours earlier, it was sad "there are still those in society with the desire to cause death and destruction".
Insp Will Kerr said that moving the bomb into the city centre was "an act of extreme folly" which placed many lives at risk.
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, urged the Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, to provide more information about the bomb. "There is strong suspicion in unionist circles that this bomb was prepared by past or present members of the Provisional IRA. Questions need to be answered."
Police dragged the suspects from the car after it was stopped close to the junction of King Street and College Square East in Belfast city centre. A 1-1/2 lb Semtex device was in a hold-all in the vehicle, which had been followed by police from west Belfast.
The RUC said the bomb was primed and ready for use. Police sources are blaming dissident republicans. Its small size meant the bombers might have been aiming more for publicity than inflicting serious damage.
Both the "Real IRA" and the Continuity IRA are active in the city but police sources have linked the bomb to the "Real IRA". The RUC appears to have been acting on prior information.
The two suspects were immediately forced to wear special protective tops over their clothing, which was later being examined by forensic experts.
British army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion on the device. Police sources said the bomb was most likely intended for a commercial or security target.
The Ulster Unionist security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, congratulated the RUC on its prompt action.
The SDLP Assembly member for West Belfast, Mr Alex Attwood, condemned those responsible for the planned bombing which he said was "a gratuitous insult" to President Clinton. "A very small number of people are completely out of touch with the vast majority who reject violence as a means of solving any of our problems. They are yesterday's men," he said.