| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adams: IRA committed to peace
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams insists the IRA would not "undermine in any way" the peace process and the so-called Good Friday Agreement. Adams was forced into making the statement Wednesday after requests by the leaders of the Republic of Ireland and UK that the Irish Republican Army makes its position clear. He said it was his belief that all three questions posed to republicans last week by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had been answered in a statement made Sunday. "However, the Taoiseach, the British prime minister and others have queried my answer about alleged IRA activities. "The IRA leadership is determined that there will be no activities which will undermine in any way the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. "The IRA's statement is a statement of completely peaceful intent." He said the IRA leadership is "determined that its activities will be consistent with its resolve to see the complete and final closure of the conflict." Adams added that it was time to move the peace process forward, and publish the Joint London and Dublin Declaration. It covers such issues as policing, justice and the scaling down of army installations. "The commitments contained in all statements should be implemented," he said. Republicans also hope Assembly elections will take place as planned on May 29, despite Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble casting doubt on such a move this week. Trimble had ruled out a revival of the Northern Ireland power-sharing government, saying the IRA had not done enough to stop its threatening activities. (Full Story) Speaking after an hour-long meeting with Blair at 10 Downing Street, Trimble played down the significance of Adams' statement. He said: "It would be so easy for Mr Adams, when asked 'is there going to be an end to all paramilitary activity?' to say 'yes'. "The fact that, at the second or third time of asking, he has been unable to give a clear answer, is, I think, fairly illustrative. "We want to see a line drawn under this issue, we want to see an end to paramilitary activity and we want to see that line drawn clearly." In a separate move Wednesday, Sinn Fein protested to Downing Street over transcripts of alleged bugged telephone conversations involving Martin McGuinness and senior figures in Blair's government appearing in British newspapers, the Mid-Ulster MP said. The released tapes include conversations he had with Blair's chief of staff Jonathan Powell, Adams and former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam. The leaded transcripts, alleged to have been from MI5, feature in a new paperback edition of a biography on McGuinness.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
