Background: The Continuity Army Council
October 8, 1996
Web posted at: 12:15 p.m. EDT (1615 GMT)
BELFAST, N. Ireland (CNN) -- The Continuity Army Council
(CAC), which claimed responsibility Tuesday for a double bombing at a British Army base, regards itself as the true Irish Republican Army.
It issued a blunt statement in January warning that "action
would be taken" to achieve Irish independence. The splinter
group is believed to include dissident IRA members.
Ruairi O'Bradaigh, the hard-line leader who walked out on
Sinn Fein in 1986, was implacably opposed to the IRA
cease-fire. After the cease-fire was
declared in August 1994, O'Bradaigh, a former president of
Sinn Fein and chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, accused
Gerry Adams of betrayal and said a new terrorist group would
be formed.
The Continuity Army Council claims that it is the "lawful
executive and army council of the Irish Republican Army."
The CAC came to light last year when police intercepted a
huge car bomb being driven across the border towards a
British barracks at Crossmaglen.
In July this year the group claimed responsibility for a
massive car bomb outside a hotel in Kellyhevlin, Northern
Ireland, that injured dozens.
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