Police, soldiers and customs officials from both parts of Ireland launched a dawn raid Thursday on the border home of the Irish Republican Army’s alleged chief of staff, Thomas ”Slab” Murphy. Backed by British and Irish troops, more than 300 officers from the Garda Siochana, the Republic of Ireland’s national police, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland raided about a dozen properties in a borderland area nicknamed ”bandit country” because of its history as the IRA’s rural power base. Full Story