Second arrest made by police investigating officer killing

A second man has been arrested for suspected terrorist offences in by police in the North investigating the dissident republican murder of policeman Ronan Kerr.

The 39-year-old suspect, from Omagh, Co Tyrone, was detained for incidents related to last year's killing, but not for murder.

Constable Kerr, 25, died when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car in the market town.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesman said: "A 39-year-old man from the Omagh area has been arrested under the Terrorism Act and is being questioned at the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim police station."

Detectives from the PSNI's serious crime branch investigating offences linked to the murder in April 2011 are conducting searches in the Omagh area today.

Another man, from Omagh, was arrested in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, yesterday. The suspect (aged 22) was taken to a police station in England for questioning.

Searches were carried out in Omagh and Cumbria yesterday and several items were seized for examination, including a lorry stopped in Milton Keynes.

Mr Kerr's death was blamed on dissident republicans opposed to the peace process.

He was from a nationalist background, brought up in a village near Omagh, and his killing caused revulsion among members of the local community.

Dissident republicans have killed policemen, soldiers and prison officers as part of their campaign and the threat level remains severe.