More still out there, say Irish brothers

THE killing of Osama bin Laden has brought little solace to two Irish brothers whose sister and niece died in the 9/11 atrocities.

For Mark and Ron Clifford, only a fully-fledged murder trial of others involved in the attacks can bring any sense of closure for them and their family.

Their sister, Ruth McCourt, was taking her four-year-old daughter, Juliana, to Disneyland when the terrorists struck.

They were flying from Boston to California on United Flight 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Ron was in one of the towers when the planes hit and somehow had a miraculous escape.

Ruth’s best friend, Paige Hackel, Juliana’s godmother, was in the plane that hit the other tower.

“Most of the leaders of the free world are saying that justice has been done but, as far as I am concerned, justice is done in a courthouse,” said Mark, from Passage West in Cork, speaking after learning of the al-Qaida leader’s death.

“Most people in the United States could not understand why bin Laden had not been captured so they are now rejoicing at his death and I can understand the euphoria surrounding his demise.”

However, Mark said there were dozens of people being held in Guantanamo Bay who were involved in the attacks and who should be brought to trial.

“They are the ones who planned and designed the whole thing, not just bin Laden. President Obama had made the closing of Guantanamo a central plank in his election campaign. He promised to close it and to process those held there in the courts but that has never happened and it is still open.

“The fact is that there are others out there who murdered 3,000 people, including my sister and niece and who have yet to be brought to justice.”

Mark’s views are echoed by his brother Ron, who lives in the US and is leading a campaign to bring the terrorists to trial.

Writing before bin Laden’s death, Ron said: “It’s now nearly 10 years since the 9/11 violent carnage of innocent victims, and still there are no scheduled proceedings to bring the terrorists to trial. It is both shameful and disgraceful that the US government has not moved forward with a trial. It is cruel to all of us who have lost family and friends, and speaks volumes to the global fore. We must see proper justice dispensed for this collective heinous crime.”

Ron, a staff writer with online journal Irish-central.com, described the refusal of the US government to move forward with trials as “shameful and disgraceful”.

“Both my sister and my niece were cold-bloodedly murdered, along with everyone else who perished on that tragic day,” Ron said.