[Mb-civic] CBC News - IRA DECLARES END TO ARMED CAMPAIGN

Thu Jul 28 17:24:29 PDT 2005

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IRA DECLARES END TO ARMED CAMPAIGN
WebPosted Thu Jul 28 07:30:42 2005

---The Irish Republican Army on Thursday ordered an end its 30-year armed
struggle against British rule and vowed to use political means for Irish
independence.

However, the outlawed group said it would not disband.

The IRA said in a statement that its members, estimated to number 500 to
1,000, were to put down their weapons and abandon any violent activity at
11 a.m. EST on Thursday.

"All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely
political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means.
Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever," the
statement said in part.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair characterized the announcement as "of a
different order than anything before," one that opens the door for a
Northern Ireland power sharing government of Catholics and Protestants.

"This is a step of unparalleled magnitude in the recent history of
Northern Ireland," Blair said. "It creates the circumstances in which the
institutions can be revived."

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A senior member of the main Protestant political party urged caution.
Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party said Blair was "a little
ahead of himself" in declaring the agreement as a significant step toward
power sharing.

"Even the words they have used have not been precise in some areas," said
Robinson. "There is nothing specific on ending their criminality. That is
disturbing."

Retired Canadian general John de Chastelain, who has led an IRA
disarmament campaign since 1997, is to decommission some weapons stashes
soon, the statement said. A Catholic priest and Protestant minister will
also be invited to witness the destruction.

The IRA is believed to hold most of its arms in underground bunkers in
the neighbouring Republic of Ireland. The group received some 130 tons of
weapons from Libya in the 1980s.

 FROM JAN. 7, 2005: N. Ireland police chief blames IRA for $61M
 bank heist

A 1997 ceasefire eased tensions between the Catholic IRA,
Protestant militias and British troops which killed about 3,600
people over the decades.

The ceasefire was followed by the Good Friday peace deal in 1998, which
saw representatives of Northern Ireland's 500,000 Catholics and one
million Protestants run the government.

DUP leader Ian Paisley downplayed the IRA's move because it declined to
mention using photographic proof of the IRA destroying its arms caches.

"The whole thing is an attempt to sell the people a pup," said Paisley,
using Irish slang for a hoodwink.

The IRA has previously objected to the "humiliating" photo demand,
which caused the unravelling of the Good Friday deal's joint
governing assembly.

Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, called the
announcement "truly momentous" in remarks to reporters.

"It now exists for the first time in the history of our struggle to
achieve republican objectives through peaceful means," Adams said, adding
he would reach out to those intent on keeping strong ties between Britain
and Northern Ireland.

"I do intend to try to appeal to unionists &#8230; Let's talk, let's
engage, let's exchange ideas. Whatever we think of today's announcement,
let's not let it be wasted," Adams said.

 FROM OCT. 21, 2003: IRA disarms after election called

In April Sinn Fein called for the IRA to abandon violence after several
crimes, including a $61-million bank heist and a murder blamed on the
IRA, incensed the traditional backers of the movement to get the U.K. out
of Ireland.

Bertie Ahern, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, welcomed the
IRA's renouncement of violence. "If the IRA's words are borne out by
verified actions, it will be a momentous and historic development.

The IRA statement was released on the same day as Martin McGuiness, a
senior Sinn Fein official, travelled to Washington to brief U.S.
President George Bush's staff on political developments in the
British province.

Mitchell Reiss, the U.S. special ennvoy for Northern Ireland, called the
IRA's move "potentially historic," but said efforts to get rid of the
arms would have to be properly verified.

Also on Thursday, a man who bombed a fish shop 12 years ago was set to be
released from jail. Sean Kelly's bomb at the Shankill Road eatery in
Belfast killed nine people in 1993.