Man on trial for IRA attack in Germany

A suspected IRA member, accused of attempted murder at a British military base in Germany, will invoke his right of silence, his lawyers said at the opening of his trial today.

Former British soldier Michael Dickson, 39, appeared nervous in the state court in the northern town of Celle, speaking only to confirm his personal details.

His lawyers said he will not answer questions about the attack on a British base where he once served

He faces life in prison if convicted.

Dickinson is accused of being a member of a five strong IRA active service unit that shelled the base in the north-western German town of Osnabrueck in June 1996.

The IRA claimed responsibility for firing three home-made mortar shells from an abandoned van onto the Quebec Barracks. Two failed to detonate, the third caused material damage but no injuries among the 150 people who were at the facility.

Dickson, from Greenock, Scotland, was arrested in Prague last December and extradited in April to Germany where he has been held in custody.

He served for seven years until 1988 as a member of British forces in Germany.

Northern Ireland police have said Dickson is also suspected of the 1996 bombing of the British army's Northern Ireland headquarters, and in the 1999 shooting of IRA supergrass Martin McGartland on Tyneside.

McGartland, who survived the attack, was a former police spy within the IRA.

The trial is scheduled to last until early January.