€22m spent on investigation

DETECTIVES ran up a bill of £16 million (€22m) as they scoured the world for the expertise they hoped would nail the Omagh bombers.

During the investigation Nasa scientists, FBI specialists and European manufacturers were all contacted to try to get evidence that would secure convictions.

At one stage the investigation team travelled to America to speak to David Rupert, the trucking boss who infiltrated the Real IRA and helped take down its leader, Michael McKevitt.

With Mr Rupert living under a witness protection scheme, police refused to reveal the location of their rendezvous.

But Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter confirmed the spy was interviewed.

US space programme experts were also called in as the inquiry attempted to sharpen CCTV stills of the bomb car taken as it made its way to Omagh.

Other images of potential suspects crossing the border on August 15 1998, the day of the attack, were sent to the FBI Academy in Virginia.

Once police had painstakingly amassed a body of forensic evidence, they requested consultations with specially trained scientists in New York, Toronto, Canada and Switzerland.

About £1 million was spent on forensics during the investigation, police disclosed.

This was added to staff costs which ran to about £15 million.