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Blair warns IRA

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JULY 24. The British Government today warned the IRA and other sectarian paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland that it would not tolerate any more breaches of the ceasefire, and those who persisted in instigating violence would face the "full force of the law''.

In what was seen as a pointed reference to the IRA, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said that henceforth even preparation for violence such as acquisition of weapons and training would be regarded as a breach of ceasefire and dealt with a firm hand. There would be no `acceptable' or `tolerated' levels of violence, and the assessment of whether a group was observing the terms of the Good Friday agreement would become more rigorous over time.

Mr. Blair's warning in the Commons on Wednesday came amid fresh concerns over the future of the peace process following renewed violence in Belfast recent weeks. He resisted pressure from Unionists to announce action against IRA and Sinn Fein but made clear that Republicans must do more to inspire confidence in their commitment to the peace process.

Ahead of his statement, the Unionists threatened to expel Sinn Fein, the political arm of IRA, from Northern Ireland's coalition government for its `failure' to rein in the IRA .They accused the IRA of re-engaging in violence and secretly re-arming itself while claiming to be committed to the peace process. The Prime Minister was seen to have had this in mind when he warned paramilitaries against engaging in "training, targeting, and acquisition of weapons''.

The Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, however, blamed loyalist paramilitary groups for the latest burst of violence that, in the past one week, has resulted in a series of clashes and the death of a Catholic youth in Belfast. "The reality is that Catholics are being killed in Belfast and there is a planned, organised campaign by loyalists against Catholics,''he said. It was wrong, he added, to `focus' on IRA when loyalist groups were on a "killings spree''.

Caught up between competing pressures, Mr. Blair called on all sides to put an end to the cycle of violence. Immediately afterwards, the Northern Ireland Secretary, John Reid, warned that if the violence was not stopped Northern Ireland could return to the darkest days of the Troubles. The Unionists were not satisfied with the Government's response which, they said, did not meet their concerns about IRA's activities. The Sinn Fein warned that it would oppose any attempt by Unionists to thrown them out of the Government. They said they would respond to such threats in a "very critical way''.

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