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>Return to flak jackets! >Posted on December 13, 2007 at 02:05:34 PM by Guardian >Newspaper. > >Police officers in Belfast have been forced back into >their flak jackets because of an increased threat from >dissidenr republicans. > >Officers on duty in Greater Belfast have been told to >put the body armour back on because several have been >targeted over the last few weeks, according to Police >Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) sources. > >The move is a set-back for the programme to >demilitarise policing. Until the recent upsurge in >dissident republican activity, officers patrolled >Belfast without flak jackets and travelled in cars >without armour. Two officers were shot in Derry and >Dungannon last month. The (Real) IRA claimed >responsibility for the attempted murders, in which the >officers were lightly wounded. > >A PSNI spokesman refused to discuss in detail new >security arrangements after the shootings: "We keep >our security response under constant review and it >would not be appropriate to go into details on any >measures we take." \Security sources said there had >been three separate threats against officers in >Belfast over the last fortnight. They said the (Real) >IRA had switched it's attention towards Belfast after >the shootings in Dungannon and Derry. > >A security source said: "There is strong intelligence >that the (dissidents) republicans are planning some >kind of attack. Police officers on the ground have >been told to be extra vigilant as we approach >Christmas. We are working flat out between Belfast and >the country to keep the lid on these guys." > >The republican dissident groups have been responsible >for a series of bomb hoaxes at Belfast shopping >centres over the last fortnight. A bomb alert >yesterday between Portadown and Moira partially closed >the Belfast to Dublin rail link. > >Targeting police officers is part of the dissidents >campaign against Sinn Fein, which at the start of this >year formally offered it's support to the reformed >policing structures in Northern Ireland. The attacks >are also aimed at dissuading Catholics from joining >the PSNI. Most of the officers who have recently been >told their movements were being watched are Catholics, >security sources added. > >The government is planning to devolve the control of >policing and justice in Northern Ireland to the >power-sharing executive. > >However, the Democratic Unionist Party has said that >these powers cannot be devolved until the entire >structure of the Provisional IRA is dismantled, >including it's ruling body, the Army Council.

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