The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 1

1 i poruL, 8 BaaaamaavaaaaT -1 mm aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal .1 I i I I THE SECRETS 1 ft WINMARK SAINTS UP, UP, UP: GST WINS SUPPORT NEWS GOKtyiDLi. ON CLINTON'S AMERICA OPINION OFA GOODWILL MONEY IN CRISIS SPORT (()) )) ft We lost two fine young men in the prime of their lives' lamia old Moxaxdl r4- '-ijtet'j 1 INSIDE Officers mourn mates Nell Comrie's worst day. The murder scene How police are affected Ambulance officers recall tension PAGES 2, 3 provide back-up for Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller. But as they were approaching, the police saw the flash of gunfire and immediately attempted to help their colleagues. As they raced to the wounded policemen, the gunman drove off.

Sergeant Silk was shot in the head and chest, and died instantly. The gunman then turned his firearm on Senior Constable Miller and shot him in the stomach. It is believed that the critically injured officer, the father of a seven- week-old boy, staggered some distance back towards the restaurant, collapsing in Warrigal Road. Senior Constable Miller was taken to Monash Medical Centre where he died. It is the first fatal police shooting since 12 October 1988, when Constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20, were ambushed and shot dead in Walsh Street, South Yarra.

Police last night said they believed the man who shot Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller is wanted in connection to at least 1 1 armed holdups on restaurants and convenience stores in Melbourne. Sergeant Silk and Senior Con Continued on page 2 They turned on their portable blue light but did not turn on the siren as they intercepted the suspect car indicating they it was a routine questioning without great danger. It is believed that neither man radioed for assistance or drew their firearms while they approached the suspect, further supporting the theory that the intercept was not out of the ordinary. Moments before the shooting, two other police in an unmarked police car, also watching the Silky Emperor, drove past and saw both officers talking to a man at his car. They drove on about 200 metres and did a u-turn to return and young men in the prime of their lives This was a shocking and outrageous attack on all law-abiding citizens in the state." Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller were part of a 60-strong police team on a stakeout of restaurants on Saturday night, hoping to catch a gang suspected of a series of robberies in Melbourne's southern suburbs.

About 12.20am, while watching the Silky Emperor Chinese restaurant in Warrigal Road, the pair saw a dark-colored car go past for the second time in about an hour. They followed it into Cochranes Road and pulled it over. By JOHN SILVESTER and PAUL CONROY Two police officers saw the shots that cut down and killed two colleagues when an armed-robbery stakeout went wrong in Moorabbin early yesterday. The police witnesses have provided a taskforce of detectives with their best clue on the first police murder in Victoria in a decade a photofit of the gunman. The chief commissioner, Mr Neil Comrie, said the shooting of Sergeant Gary Silk, 34, and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, 35 the father of a seven-week-oid'toaby'-was tragic.

"We have lost two fine A police photofit of the man wanted over the shootings. WEATHER jOHi-y 28 dead, 200 hurt as car bomb blasts Irish peace 13 22 99 Victoria: Cool with rain in the north. City: Cloudy with litde rain. Top 14. Tomorrow.

Mosdy mm fine. Top 1 6. Details: NEWS 22 INDEX PAGE BUSINESS LAW LIST Buy any DIGITAL PHONE and receive a 20 CROSSWORDS LIVING FREE Portable Hands Free 12 OPINION LETTERS 0 CLASS INDEX BUSINESS ALCATEL EASY to UM.OM touch oper ojktinw up to 3Kn 40i six! I20hrs Standby. AAAUuHnt battalia. Choice of nuny tuhiortab) cotours.

$49' FREE Second Battery FREE Leather Case FREE Car Charger ODD SPOT RE New Release In-Car Magnetic Phone Holder 5 mm A newspaper in squeaky clean Singapore is campaigning against errant toilet users, castigating bad aimers, "big drippers" and those who leave footprints on the seat THE AGE NOKIA SI 10 DitHol phona. Changaabn colour covers, Clock and Calculator, Suparior voica quality wtth Gamas, Standby ttnrn-laOhrt with MOtnAh NIMHbattary By CHRISTOPHER HENNING LONDON Twenty-eight people died and more than 200 were injured in a huge car-bomb attack on the busy town centre of Omagh in Northern Ireland yesterday. The bomb appears to have been placed deliberately on carnival day to cause the most possible casualties and to inflict the maximum damage on the Good Friday peace agreement. Among the dead in Northern Ireland's worst single terrorist atrocity were an 18-month-old baby girl and a mother and her daughter. A pregnant woman had her legs blown off by the force of the blast.

Many of the injured are critically ill. No one has yet claimed responsibility, but dissident republican groups, formerly attached to the Provisional IRA, are being blamed. The groups, which oppose the Provisional IRA's cooperation with the peace process, have carried out a series of car bombings and attempted bombings. Police received a warning 40 minutes beforehand that a bomb had been placed near the courthouse of Omagh, a town whose population is almost evenly Catholic and Protestant. Police evacuated the area and sealed It off, but just after 3pm local time on Saturday the bomb exploded several hun-1 dred metres away in the central shopping district to which people had been evacuated.

It was already crowded with people expecting to watch a carnival parade. The bomb, an estimated 250 kilograms ERICSSON GH6I8 fiobMs pttofWa Th uhJfrutat phono. Up Co 120 hn It hat built partonal orpnlttr with dory, 7 prtrfM JaH butdms solution Mttingi, pnMS, also iSJt Devastation: Police and firefighters inspect the bomb's Impact. Picture ap small rww Infra-red dan transfaf. 250 Spencer St, Melbourne 300 1 144th year.

No. 44.693 with cNur cmH capabtttty. dock, tlarm, storm ntnwt ind numbtn $179' ERICSSON CF7tS covered in blood from the victims. The hospital and five others In nearby towns worked throughout the night treating the injured. Radio stations broadcast appeals for off-duty doctors and paramedics to MobHc phoM-TTM $499 wHti tha OUT ktfnvraal modam(ajfatf)rf) CONDITIONS; To approvad cuttomara who remain cennactad on tha Classic 55 FlaxIPIan Telephone (03)96004211 Classifieds, 132243 (Indudlnt naw compaction faa and 12 months G3 for 12 continuous months.

Tha minimum cost months. Th Tha minimum cost report to work to help out. Nokia 51 10 Is $874, Ericsson 788a C77a It $774 ih 1 1 224. kccai! taaslla Ericsson eas is (W. norm ai iu on 688 lit The hospitals and the town centre were Is Easy phis call charjai.

This offar Is not srallaMa for purchasa In offorrAII uIm ira tubttct to ltock of fertiliser and Icing sugar boosted with high explosive, was hidden in a maroon Vauxhall Astra car. It tore through the crowd, leaving the streets covered with blood, debris, bodies and parts of bodies. According to a local councillor, Paddy McGowan, "people were running looking for their children. I've never seen devastation like it. It was a busy market day.

I can't understand the mentality of whoever did this. They must have been trying to maximise the number of The steps of Omagh hospital and the floors of the casualty department were jammed alter the blast with people look- $599' No trtrk unm. ID roulrlAik in ilunctloiyrlth any ccharlahtra MoMaNat dtrtal ikbWtv. UmK 3 pnonat par customar (axraptn hmhar dataHs.S5 connacdon faa apply.tAny un aptad on all stock. Condltloni apply.

Dasktop fa iktop unuid talk fortatatcl RainchKki ins for lost loved ones amid the wreckage. fist charftr not mftablt. Home delivery SSTS? 96041460 7 days delivery $7.80. Services Directory Pag 21 Rescue work was made more difficult by relatives seeking information. For the latest updates, connect to www.theage.com.itu HI tO KJOatl SSI HtOH BY, fPftNO P1A1A f4NtaM ITM HILBOUWNa 311 CITY tOAO atttatrf FOUNTAIN OATt MOM K1IS HAOtD DtUW 7tl Mil IT -D IK ST KHO "OAO )7 iMttaniMOMO iiptwKiaHKHWy tJ till ptmroN Maummt ttutttt awjNawKK a4 tmNtrrnoAii tita it ntfHOON itt-itt nao) oao nrtiiir CAHraavunU) tara Mutta HtoHway tm itu watotuttitMii lit it hpoao mum tatrotaat an wMtoowow mwhvot tantttt I mmmmmmmmm WORLD 9: Report, picture mam aAtttiv.