IRA threatens to withdraw offer

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 13. In a fresh setback to the tortuous Northern Ireland peace process, the IRA has threatened to withdraw its offer of decommissioning saying that the new six-week deadline to convince the Unionists how and when it proposes to start destroying its weapons is not acceptable.

The threat came just when the British Government was claiming that a breakthrough was imminent amid expectations that the short suspension of the provincial Assembly at the weekend would help the two sides to come to an agreement. The Republicans, however, protested that the so-called six-week ``breathing space'' which the suspension had provided was intended to arm-twist them into making further concessions on decommissioning. They were angry that a constitutional technicality was used to suspend the Assembly just by 24 hours in order to set what effectively amounts to a new deadline for the IRA.

The suspension, according to the Republicans, was in breach of the Good Friday Agreement and prompted by Unionists to push their demand for immediate start to decommissioning. The Sinn Fein President, Mr. Gerry Adams was livid saying that the British Government was dabbling in ``Humpty Dumpty'' politics. ``I hear the patronising tone that the institutions have been stood down only for one day and now it's OK again. Well, it's not OK again,'' he said arguing that the institutions created under the Good Friday Agreement could not be switched off and on at will. He had no illusion about the motive behind suspending the Assembly. ``Behind the soft words really what is being opened up is a six or seven-week period in which the British Government and Unionists are going to try to put pressure on republicans to move to resolve issues on British Government or Unionist terms. Is anyone here going to allow that to happen,'' he asked the audience at a rally in Belfast.

Earlier, his party colleague and chief negotiator, Mr. Martin McGuinness warned that last week's developments might have put the IRA's offer of decommissioning in ``jeopardy''. He was referring to the Assembly's suspension after the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) chief, Mr. David Trimble rejected the IRA's offer that it was working with Gen. de Chastelain's decommissioning body on a plan to put its weapons ``completely and verifiably beyond use''. Mr. Trimble, pushed by his party hardliners, insisted that Unionists wanted to see a start to physical destruction of weapons before they could return to the power- sharing coalition, from which he resigned last month plunging the peace process into a crisis.

Mr. McGuinness told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost that Mr. Trimble's stand and the suspension of the Assembly ``may have jeopardised the very important development of earlier this week.'' Reports this morning said the IRA was ``poised'' to withdraw its offer and break off all contacts with the de Chastelain commission as it had done when the Assembly was suspended on a previous occasion last year. Observers said if the IRA carried its threat to its logical conclusion, it could undo the recent efforts at reviving the peace process. ``This could push the clock back to before May last year when the IRA announced for the first time its intentions to put its weapons completely and verifiably beyond use and said it would allow agreed third parties to inspect several of its secret arms dumps as a confidence-building measure,'' The Guardian said.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr. John Reid has justified suspending the Assembly just for a day saying this was the best option as a prolonged suspension or fresh elections would have further polarised positions and been more damaging. He urged the IRA not to walk away from the peace process and insisted that an agreement was ``within our grasp.''

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Section  : International
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