IRA withdraws contact with decommissioning body

In a statement last night, the IRA has announced that it has disengaged from the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

The announcement is a blow to hopes that the devolved institutions could be reinstated, and is rebuttal of Prime Minister Tony Blair's call 10 days ago for "acts of completion".

In a statement released to the republican magazine, An Phoblacht, the IRA blamed its withdrawal from the IICD on Unionists and the British government for setting "untenable ultimatums" and failing to honour their side of the agreement.

The statement read: "Recent events show that the leadership of unionism have set their faces against political change at this time.

"There is also a real threat to the peace process from the British establishment and its agencies as well as the loyalist murder gangs.

"For our part, the IRA remains committed to the search for a just and lasting peace.

"The complete cessation of military operations announced in July 1997 remains intact.

It continued: "Despite this, the British government says that the responsibility for this present crisis and its resolution lies with us and there is an effort to impose unacceptable and untenable ultimatums on the IRA.

"At the same time the British government, by its own admission, has not kept its commitments.

"The IRA, therefore, has suspended contact with the IICD. The onus is on the British government and others to create confidence in this process. They can do this by honouring their obligations.

The statement was, as usual, signed by "P O'Neill" of the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau in Dublin.

The Prime Minister did not actually use the word "disbandment," preferring instead to call for "acts of completion," during his keynote speech in Belfast 10 days ago. At a Commons briefing, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman was evasive on the precise definition of the term.

The spokesman said: "As we had learned from past experience, it was never a useful exercise to get caught up on one particular word. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister had made clear that if the process was to continue, we had to see an end to paramilitary activity."

The announcement is viewed as indicating a disparity between armed and political republicanism over how to respond to the return of direct rule.

Over the past two weeks, the political leadership of republicanism – Martin Meehan, Mitchel McLaughlin, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness – have all made statements to the effect that their 'war' is over. Party President Gerry Adams even going so far as to say that he could envision a "future without the IRA".

(GMcG)