Police release three held in connection with break-in

Three people arrested in connection with the raid on a high security Northern Ireland police station have been released without charge.

Among those being questioned about the March 17 break-in at Castlereagh was the former IRA leader in the Maze Prison, Raymond McCartney from Derry.

A police spokesman confirmed last night that the three republicans, two of whom were lifted in Derry and the third in Belfast had now been freed.

The arrest of Mr McCartney and two others by detectives probing the theft of intelligence files had provoked fury among republicans.

Members of Mr McCartney’s family claimed the Castlereagh investigation was being used as an excuse to target republicans.

Mr McCartney was part of the first set of republicans to go on hunger strike at the Maze prison in 1980 in a bid to be granted political prisoner status in the H-Blocks.

A republican source in Derry said: ‘‘Raymond is a huge figure within republicanism. Someone inside the police is determined to really anger the republican community and deflect attention away from the real culprit.’’

A Sinn Fein spokesman welcomed the release of the three men, adding they should not have been arrested in the first place.

But he predicted that more arrests would follow.

‘‘Most republicans are expecting that this exercise in arresting people and raiding homes and terrorising families is likely to continue until such times that politicians responsible pull these people into line.

‘‘This entire charade needs to be brought to a stop and John Reid and Tony Blair need to grab a hold of their security people and bring them to heel.’’

The spokesman said republicans were becoming increasingly angry at what was being interpreted as an attack on the peace process.

‘‘The fact that they (the security forces) have had to release people so quickly is in itself evidence that their own position is untenable,’’ he added.