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NI loyalist groups call ceasefire
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The Ulster Freedom Fighters and Ulster Defence Association have announced an end to paramilitary activity for the next 12 months. The announcement came on Saturday in a statement issued through the Ulster Political Research Group. The statement, reported on the Press Association, said: "As from February 21 2003 all units of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Young Militants in mainland Britain and in Northern Ireland have begun to observe a 12-month period of military inactivity. "This period will be monitored internally every three months to ensure that there is real and genuine political movement during and after the election of the new Assembly in Northern Ireland. "An agreed, acceptable and equitable final settlement will produce even greater peace and stability within the confines of our beloved Ulster. "We would urge the Dublin Government and the British Government to be less dictatorial during any new negotiations." The statement also confirmed that they would be submitting a new name to the international decommissioning body in Belfast to enter into discussions on disarmament. However they added: "On decommissioning our stance remains the same, whenever we are confident that the Republican Movement have decommissioned fully, we will then fully respond." The UDA has for decades been accused of racketeering and involvement in the drugs trade as well as orchestrating sectarian violence against Catholics. Earlier this month, it was challenged by Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy to become a purely political force in the wake of the expulsion of supporters of the former UDA commander Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair. Murphy said after supporters of Adair fled to Scotland that loyalists faced a stark choice: "People really have to make up their minds within the loyalist community as to what they support. "I believe the vast majority of people in those communities want political loyalism to be their badge, as it were, so that continues to make its mark and have its influence in the talks process." In January 2002 the Red Hand Defenders -- which police believed to be a cover name used by, among others, the UDA -- announced it was disbanding. It said it was making the move after a request from the UDA.
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