Thatcher on I.R.A. hit list

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 7

Thatcher on I.R.A. hit list

NZPA-Reuter London The British Prime Minister (Mrs Margaret Thatcher) and the former Prime Ministers, Jim Callaghan and Ted Heath, topped an I.R.A. hit list, British Secret Service chiefs revealed yesterday, the “Standard” reported. The list was contained in documents handed over to court authorities in San Francisco where the former Irish Republican Army mastermind, William Quinn, faces extradition for the murder of. a v London policeman and for conducting a terror cam-

paign in the British capital, the newspaper said. Quinn, aged 33, who was branded Britain’s public enemy number one before escaping to America six years ago, is alleged to have' been in. possession of a list naming more than 100 targets. Apart from leading politicians the targets included public buildings in London, peers, defence chiefs and judges. The British authorities al- . lege that Quinn was personally responsible for the murder of a police constable.

Stephen Tibble, who was shot when he gave chase after seeing Quinn leave one of the London “bomb factories.” It is also alleged that he was a leading terrorist who organised a bombing campaign in London. The British police say Quinn was the head of ah I.R.A. active service unit based in London in the mid--19705. They describe him as an extremely dangerous man who was, and still is, committed to the aims of the I.R.A. despite spending his childhood in the United

States. Quinn is now being held in the San Francisco County Jail pending the extradition hearing, which is due in February. He is planning to fight the case and it could be at least a year before he could be returned to Britain to face charges. Quinn’s fingerprints are alleged to have been found at three I.R.A. bomb factories in London and on letterbombs which seriously injured a judge and an employee of the “Daily Express.”