McKevitt remanded in custody

Leading dissident republican Micheal McKevitt has been remanded in custody for a further two weeks after he made a brief appearance at the Special Criminal Court today.

51-year-old McKevitt of Beech Park, Blackrock, Dundalk in County Louth is charged with being a member of an unlawful organisation styling itself on the Irish Republican Army between August 29th 1999 and March 28th 2001.

He is the first person to be charged with directing an unlawful organisation, an offence under Section 6 of the Offences Against the State Amendment Act of 1998.

This piece of legislation was brought into law two weeks after the Omagh bombing of August 15th 1998 which killed 29 people and injured over 200.

Mr McKevitt has been remanded in custody until May 28th when a date for bail is expected to be fixed.

An FBI agent is expected to be the main prosecution witness.