I'd put a bullet in his head – CIRA death threat to ex-boss
(Suzanne Breen, Sunday World)
A hardline faction of the Continuity IRA has issued a chilling death threat against its former leader.Masked gunmen from the terror group last night read a statement to the Sunday World warning Tommy Crossan – get out of Ireland or be killed.They paramilitaries said Crossan had been expelled from the CIRA faction for carrying out unauthorised robberies and stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from the organisation.And they accused the 40-year-old from St James, off the Falls Road, of being a British agent who "had tried but failed" to destroy CIRA.One of the gunmen said: "A court martial was held and Tommy Crossan was found guilty. If he doesn't leave Ireland, he'll be executed. I'd love to put him down a hole."
The gunmen, who said they represented the dissident group's leadership, showed us a statement from their Army Council making accusations against their former commander.They claimed Crossan, who was the faction's Belfast leader, was a British agent and had been seen meeting his handlers. The second gunman warned: "The Army Council has given Tommy the chance to leave the country alive. They've shown mercy. Personally, I'd rather do it by the old way. If it was up to me, I'd put a bullet in his head and leave him like a teabag by the side of the road." And the gunmen claimed the terror group was now re-arming and rebuilding in an attempt to destroy the peace process: "Tommy Crossan has made us a laughing stock because two years ago he ordered an end to all operations against the crown forces in Belfast. "We haven't even come near to killing cops or Brits. That's going to change. We're launching a new recruitment drive and we're setting up training camps. We have bought gear and we're trying to source more." The gunmen talked only of targeting security force members – they made no mention of loyalists. Sunday World was taken to a secret location in Belfast where three masked men appeared, two of whom were armed with hand-guns. In the late 1990s, CIRA formed an alliance with the Real IRA, devastating town centres across the North with massive car bombs. Two years ago, CIRA murdered PSNI constable Stephen Carroll in Lurgan.
But the terror group split last year amidst allegations of criminality against Crossan and his team. The men who backed him, and joined the new faction, now claim they were wrong to trust him.
They said their group's Southern-based leadership had just completed an 18-week investigation into Crossan after "continuing allegations of corruption" against him. "Every volunteer in Belfast was interviewed," one of the gunmen said. "The dirt uncovered was unbelievable. Tommy had set up robbery squads left, right and centre. He was recruiting young lads who thought they were joining Continuity. "But they weren't greenbooked (sworn in by the IRA rulebook) so they weren't members. These lads thought the money from the robberies they were doing was buying weaponry for the army. Instead, it was going straight into Tommy Crossan's pockets." The gunmen claimed Crossan had orchestrated tiger kidnappings and cash-in-transit van robberies. He was also behind robberies of local bookies, shops, and cafes, they alleged. "We've no problem with robbing big businesses or taking money from those who can afford it," said one of the CIRA faction's representatives. "We have and will continue to hijack fag and drinks' lorries.
"But Tommy targeted many small businesses, some owned by ex-prisoners. He robbed ordinary guys trying to earn a living, not multi-millionaires. He was behind a robbery of a local Subway sandwich cafe. He's a rat-bag." The gunmen claimed that last year their CIRA faction had blackmailed a young Belfast businessman who was dealing in drugs: "He was made to hand over £8,500. But CIRA never saw a penny of it – Tommy kept it all for himself." The dissident spokesmen alleged Crossan intimidated his new recruits: "One lad wanted to stop robbing bookies. Tommy put him in the back of a van and gave him a beating. That lad is now getting psychiatric treatment."
Crossan was one of CIRA's best known members. In 1999, he was sentenced to 10 years for possessing guns. He was the CIRA prisoners' commander in Maghaberry where he was regularly assaulted by loyalist inmates. Once, he needed stitches for a serious head wound. On another occasion, he was scalded when boiling water was thrown over him. After being released from prison, Crossan became heavily re-involved with CIRA. In 2008, he and another CIRA member, Martin Overend, were convicted of attempting to extort £50,000 from a Dungannon businessman. The victim was told he'd be killed if he didn't hand over £50,000. Threats were also made against his family. Shots were fired at the businessman's house, once narrowly missing his children. The PSNI caught Crossan and Overend. But while Overend was jailed for nine years, Crossan received a suspended sentence. In a follow-up operation, police found guns, explosives and a notebook containing security force members' personal details at Overend's West Belfast flat.
The CIRA faction's spokesman told Sunday World: "Just before the police raid, Tommy ordered us to gather up as many weapons as possible from arms dumps across Belfast. "He moved them to Martin Overend's where the cops seized them. It was a major blow to us. All the intelligence we'd gathered on cops and Brits was seized too." The spokesman said suspicions that Crossan was a British agent again arose at a support meeting for republican prisoners in West Belfast earlier this year.
"A senior ex-member of the Provisional IRA, who is now a well-respected independent republican, told me Tommy had been seen talking to the RUC at Shaw's Bridge. "I pulled Tommy aside and challenged him. He went white but he didn't deny it and he never returned to another prisoners' meeting." The CIRA faction claimed Crossan is preparing to move from Belfast to Limerick. "He wont be safe there. If he wants to live, he has to leave Ireland," one of the gunmen said. "He's still travelling the country lying and trying to get young lads to carry out robberies to line his pockets. Tommy has criminalised the Continuity. He has given us a bad name with other groups like the Real IRA and with independent republicans."
The spokesman said the CIRA faction had appointed a new Belfast commander and was "hoping to mend fences" and work with other dissident organisations in future. "In the past two years under Tommy Crossan, CIRA in Belfast has managed only two pipe bomb attacks on Woodbourne and North Queen Street RUC stations. "People see us as a joke and we cant argue with that. But it's all going to change. "We've acquired gear – not enough to sustain a war but enough to keep Belfast ticking over. We have handguns, heavy weaponry, and explosives. The only way we'll win back the respect of other republicans is by showing we mean business and restarting the war."
The dissident faction said they wanted to "hold out an olive branch" to the other CIRA wing from whom they split. The spokesman said: "We'd problems with some of them but Tommy Crossan made things worse and aggravated the split. "We've now opened a line of communication with our former comrades. We put too much trust in Tommy. We should have followed the cause and not the man."
August 1, 2011
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This article appeared in the July 31, 2011 edition of the Sunday World.
http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/breen/arts2011/jul31_CIRA_threat_to_T-Crossan__SBreen_Sunday-World.php
http://saoirse32.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/p17476/
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