Parcel bombs that could have caused “real harm” were sent to Neil Lennon, the manager of Scottish soccer club Celtic, and two of the Glasgow team’s high-profile supporters, police confirmed yesterday.
Politicians said the attempted bombings showed action was needed to deal with religious bigotry and sectarian violence between some fans of the club and their city rivals Rangers, which has flared anew in recent months.
Lennon, a Northern Irish Catholic, who has been the subject of several threats and physical abuse in the past, has himself been blamed for stoking the tensions, along with figures at Rangers.
“Sending these types of packages through the post is a despicable and cowardly act,” Strathclyde police detective superintendent John Mitchell said. “I can confirm that they were designed to cause real harm to the person that opened them.”
While commentators have suggested an individual was probably to blame, police have not yet ruled out the involvement of a guerrilla group. Dissidents opposed to the Irish peace process have stepped up activities in recent weeks.
The acrimony between Celtic, which has a predominantly Catholic fan base, and Rangers, whose supporters are mainly Protestant, is long-running and deep-seated.
The sectarian divide echoes the religious and social hatred that has plagued Northern Ireland — Celtic’s fans regularly wave Irish flags, while Rangers’ supporters brandish British and Northern Ireland flags on match days.
The two clubs, known as the “Old Firm,” meet again on Sunday in a potentially decisive Scottish Premier League match.
Lennon withdrew from the Northern Ireland team when a player in 2002 after a death threat which media speculated had come from Protestant paramilitaries in the province.
In January, packages, posted in Northern Ireland, containing bullets were sent to Lennon and a Celtic player.
Police said the first suspect parcel bomb, addressed to Lennon, was intercepted by Royal Mail staff on March 4.
Further packages were sent to the Celtic manager, to the office of former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament Trish Godman and to Lennon’s lawyer, with the most recent intercepted by mail staff on Friday.
The bombs were initially thought to be hoaxes, but police said forensic tests had now shown they were viable. Detectives declined to give details, but Sky News reported the devices were crude, liquid-based nail bombs.
The incident comes amid growing concern about the behavior of clubs’ players, coaches and fans. UEFA opened a case against Rangers this month for discriminatory sectarian chanting by the club’s fans.
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