Republican Sinn Fein has accused mainstream politicians of turning a blind eye to the beating and abduction of a former IRA prisoner, Mr Paddy Fox, reports Suzanne Breen, in Belfast.
The party claimed the attack was part of the Provisional IRA leadership's strategy to eradicate all political opposition from republicans to the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Fox (29) was abducted by five men outside a Monaghan hotel early on Sunday and held for nine hours. He said he believed the Provisional IRA was responsible and that he had been targeted because of his criticism of the Sinn Fein leadership and its political strategy.
Condemning the attack, the Republican Sinn Fein president, Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, said there had been a notable silence about it from politicians at Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House.
"When a physical attack takes place on political opponents of the Stormont agreement, these politicians and others in high places, who are usually very vociferous, simply look the other way," he said.
Mr Fox was yesterday recovering from head injuries and bruising sustained in the attack.
