A bank in Northern Ireland hit by a massive robbery said on Friday it was considering the drastic measure of taking several denominations of notes out of circulation as a means of preventing the criminals enjoying their haul.
"All options are being considered," a source at the Northern Bank told reporters, requesting anonymity, following Monday night's audacious raid.
In the heist believed to be one of the biggest ever staged in Britain, more than ?22 million (US$42 million) was taken, all notes issued by the Northern Bank and in circulation exclusively in Northern Ireland.
Regular British notes issued by the Bank of England are also used in Northern Ireland, and could be used in place of the Northern Bank notes for the time being.
A bank spokesman said: "All Northern Bank notes will be honored by the bank. These will include any notes that are the proceeds of the robbery but which have been handled by ordinary members of the public in good faith."
The news came as police raided properties in Belfast on Friday in an attempt to recover the money, which officers believe might have been stolen by a gang linked to paramilitary forces.
Teams of uniformed officers searched for clues at several homes and commercial properties.
Gerry Adams, leader of the Catholic political party Sinn Fein, lodged a complaint with Britain's minister for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, to protest at the raids on Catholic homes.
The Belfast searches were "heavy-handed and aggressive" and intended to "further destabilize the political situation," he said.
Five officers carrying out the raids were injured in Belfast when their cars were attacked by up to 100 protesters throwing stones, bottles and other objects.
According to a Northern Ireland Treasury source, if Northern Bank's parent, the National Australian Bank group, decided against withdrawing the notes, the government might act instead.
Authorities in the British-ruled region might even pass legislation ordering the notes to be withdrawn from circulation, a treasury official told reporters, speaking anonymously.
Police have refused to rule out the possibility that a paramilitary gang was behind what officers described as a meticulously planned crime.
Elements linked both to Catholic groups such as Sinn Fein's armed wing, the Irish Republican Army, and to Protestant gangs are heavily involved in organized crime in Northern Ireland, despite the end of most sectarian violence since the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.
News agency reports in Britain on Thursday quoted a source close to the IRA as saying the group had nothing to do with the robbery, but these reports could not be independently confirmed.
The loot was snatched from the Northern Bank branch in downtown Belfast on Monday night, a day after two senior bank employees were taken hostage at their homes outside the city.
The gang, posing as policemen bringing news that a relative had been killed in a road accident, took over the homes of senior bank employees on the outskirts of Belfast last weekend.
The families were taken hostage elsewhere while the men, both senior bank managers, were ordered to go back to work on Monday and act as if nothing unusual was taking place.
At the close of business on Monday, they gave the thieves access to the bank's vault.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability