Fury at appearance of banner supporting Liam Campbell, who was found liable for the Omagh bombing

Ulster Unionist Newry, Mourne and Down councillor Alan Lewis has said he is “shocked but not surprised” at the display of a banner in Drumaness opposing the extradition of Liam Campbell from the Republic of Ireland to Lithuania.

Liam Campbell was found by the High Court in Belfast to have been the officer commanding the Real IRA on the day of the Omagh bomb in 1998 and to have coordinated the car bombing.

Campbell, from Dundalk, is wanted in Lithuania over allegations he was part of an operation to buy guns and bombs for the Real IRA. A court in Dublin has ordered his extradition.

Mr Lewis said: “On August 15 1998 the world watched in horror as cameras caught the aftermath of the Omagh bomb, the sheer carnage and devastating loss of life.

“Those opposing extradition refer to the human rights of Liam Campbell but pay no regard to the rights of the 29 people and two unborn children who were murdered on the streets of Omagh in 1998. The mask of equality slip when republicans circle the wagons to protect one of their own. Those who erected this banner are guilty of shameful opportunistic blind support for terrorism.

”When it suits them republicans sing Europe’s praises, Lithuania is a European country, I’m sure Mr Campbell will be well looked after, better treated than any victim of the IRA. The sheer hypocrisy of these people sickens and disgusts me.”

The Omagh bomb is the worst single atrocity during almost 30 years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

No-one has ever been convicted of the 1998 dissident republican attack that killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

In June 2009, Liam Campbell was found liable, along with convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, for the Omagh bombing.

That verdict followed a landmark civil action brought by relatives of some of those killed in the atrocity.