Bombenanschlag auf Harrods

Vorlage:Infobox terrorist attack The Harrods bombing was a car bombing that occurred at Harrods department store in London on 17 December 1983. The bomb had been planted by members of the Provisional IRA, although the IRA Army Council claimed that it had not authorised the attack. Six people were killed – three police officers and three civilians. A memorial that marks the spot where the three police officers were killed is located on the side of Harrods at Hans Crescent. Philip Geddes, an Oxford graduate and journalist was one of those killed. In his honour annual prizes are awarded to aspiring journalists attending Oxford University. Also, every year the Philip Geddes Memorial Lecture on the theme of the future of journalism is given by a leading journalist. The same store was the target of a much smaller IRA bomb in 1993.

The car bomb

A warning of the bomb came when a man using an IRA code word telephoned the central London branch of the Samaritans organisation at 12:44. The caller said there were bombs inside and outside Harrods specifying the registration number of the car the device was in, but not its make or colour. Four police officers in a car, a dog handler, and an officer on foot approached the car when the bomb went off. The police car absorbed much of the blast, probably reducing other casualties. Six people were killed, three passers-by (including one citizen of the United States), and three Metropolitan Police officers. Those killed were: Philip Geddes (journalist, 24), Kenneth Salvesen (28), Jasmine Cochrane-Patrick (25), Police sergeant Noel Lane (28), and Police constable Jane Arbuthnot (22). Police inspector Stephen Dodd (34) was fatally injured and died 24 December. Police constable Jon Gordon survived, but lost both legs and part of a hand in the blast.

The Provisional IRA Army Council claimed that the bomb had not been authorised by them. However Leon Brittan, the Home Secretary, commented: "The nature of a terrorist organisation is that those in it are not under disciplined control".

The bomb contained between 25 and Vorlage:Convert. of explosives. It was detonated by a timing device and not by remote control, as previously suspected. The device was left in a 1972 blue Austin 1300 GT four door saloon with a black vinyl roof, registration KFP 252K — which was subsequently blown onto the roof of a nearby five-story building.

A second warning call was made by the IRA to authorities at the time of the first explosion. It was stated that a bomb was placed in the C&A department store on the east side of Oxford Street, London. Police tried to clear the area crowded with shoppers and cordoned it off but this claim was later found to be false.

1993 bombing

In January 1993, Harrods was once again targeted by the IRA: this time a package containing 1 lb of Semtex plastic explosive ripped the front off the store. Four people were injured. Taylor was a 51-year-old former corporal of the British Army and a member of Red Action. Less than two years earlier he had liaised with police as chief steward for an Anti-Fascist Action march through east London, protesting against the British National Party. Hayes was a 41-year-old computer programmer with a degree in business studies from Central London Polytechnic. In March 1993, police captured them at Hayes' home in Stoke Newington, north London.

Bibliography

• Edward Mickolus: Terrorism, 1992-1995: a chronology of events and a selectively annotated bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1997, ISBN 0-313-30468-8. 
• Tony Geraghty: The Irish War: the hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence. JHU Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8018-6456-9. 

External links

• Witness accounts of the event on the BBC