An Irish customs officer was charged Sunday with belonging to the Irish Republican Army after police seized electronic equipment they said could be used to elude British anti-terrorist scanning devices. The charge came after the IRA claimed responsibility for killing six people and injuring 37 last week in a series of bombings and shootings in Britain, West Germany and Northern Ireland. Police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Frank Sutcliffe was arrested Friday after three weeks of surveillance. In that operation, authorities said they seized walkie-talkie radio sets and a sniper rifle. The walkie-talkies carried devices which the police sources said could block efforts to locate radio-controlled bombs planted by the IRA. The IRA is waging a guerrilla war to unite the Protestant-dominated British province of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, where Roman Catholic are in the majority. Sutcliffe, 30, of Dublin, appeared Sunday at a special sitting of Dublin's anti-terrorist Special Criminal Court. He was charged with membership in the IRA, which is outlawed both in the Irish Republic and in Northern Ireland. The court was told Sutcliffe, who was released on $7,040 bail, would also face additional charges.
