The preliminary hearing began in Belfast in the Omagh Victims Civil Action Group's suit against Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy.

The Aug. 15, 1998, blast killed 29 people and injured hundreds of others. The Real Irish Republican Army took responsibility for the explosion.

Last August, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy announced the government would provide $1.5 million towards the estimated $2.5 million needed to fight the case.

Murphy was sentenced to 14 years in January 2002 for plotting the Omagh attack while Daly, McKevitt and Campbell are in jail for being Real IRA members