Man charged with attempted murder in N.Ireland police shooting

LONDON, Feb 10 — A 44-year-old man was charged yesterday with the attempted murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland that again put the tense province on edge, police said.

Last February, two men fired several shots at John Caldwell, a 26-year veteran police officer, leaving him seriously wounded with two months recovery in hospital.

The attack, claimed by the dissident republican group the New IRA, occurred as Caldwell loaded footballs into his car with his son at a sports complex in Omagh, some 70 miles (115 kilometres) west of Belfast.

The shooting was condemned across the political spectrum in the province which has been sensitive to any resurgence in communal violence since 1998 accords between nationalist and pro-British groups that ended most of the decades of violence seen in Northern Ireland.

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The man arrested Thursday was charged yesterday with attempted murder, directing terrorist activities and preparing terrorist acts, police said in a statement.

He will be brought before a magistrates court today.

A dozen people had previously been arrested and charged in connection with the attempted killing.

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“There is absolutely no tolerance for such attacks by the enemies of our peace,” said a joint statement by five political parties in the province. — AFP