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| Britain |
| IRA Gives Up Weapons, Pigs Seen Flying |
| 2005-09-26 |
| Can I get me a... unlikely license here? Irish Republican Army gives up entire arsenal, disarmament commission says By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press Writer | September 26, 2005 BELFAST, Northern Ireland --The Irish Republican Army has given up its entire arsenal of weapons, demonstrating that its 35-year campaign to overthrow Northern Ireland by force is really over, the Canadian general who supervised the tortuous process said Monday. "We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal," said John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who since 1997 has led efforts to disarm the outlawed IRA. The material included ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns and The IRA followed up the announcement with a brief statement of its own that concluded: "The IRA leadership can now confirm that the process of putting our arms verifiably beyond use has been completed." Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which has resisted dealing with the IRA's political allies, was not persuaded. While he accepted that the IRA had disposed of some weapons, Paisley said the process was not transparent and gave no assurance that all the weapons were gone. Trust, but verify... "You can't build the bridge of trust with the scaffolding of lies and underhand deals," Paisley told a news conference. He accused of the British and Irish governments of "duplicity and dishonesty" in accepting the IRA's assurances. "I think once they make sure there are no firecrackers left in Belfast, he might be satisfied," U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who co-chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs in Congress, said in Springfield, Mass. "But his political party, particularly those who are 25 or 30 years younger, see this as the way forward. And my hunch is that the Rev. Paisley, perhaps by December or January, will see this as the way forward as well." The IRA permitted two independent witnesses -- a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams -- to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland and the United States. "Successive British governments have sought final and complete decommissioning by the IRA for over 10 years," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "Failure to deliver it had become a major impediment to moving forward the peace process. Today it is finally accomplished. And we have made an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland." Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he accepted the word of de Chastelain and his colleagues. "These are men of integrity. Their words are clear, and they are welcome." Earlier in the day, De Chastelain gave representatives of the British and Irish governments a confidential report on his work. He said the decommissioning was completed Saturday and that he had checked and counted all the weapons involved. Rest of story at link... |
| Posted by:Raj |
| #1 .S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who co-chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs in Congress Ima the shadow Fishery Affairs Minister for the Atkins Party. |
| Posted by: Shamu 2005-09-26 16:33 |