IRA hints more attacks may follow

In the aftermath of yesterday's bomb attack in London, a spokesperson for the IRA has hinted that there may be more such attacks…

In the aftermath of yesterday's bomb attack in London, a spokesperson for the IRA has hinted that there may be more such attacks.

In an interview in the current edition of the Sinn Fein paper, An Phoblacht, a spokesperson for what is described as "the General Headquarters Staff of Oglaigh na hEireann" has said that the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major had betrayed the peace process to keep himself in power.

Asked if the Canary Wharf bomb of last Friday was a one off action, the spokesperson repeated the IRA statement that the complete cessation of military operations ended at 6pm Friday February 9th 1996.

The spokesperson added: "We in Oglaigh na hEireann will continue to assert Irish national rights in the face of British denial for as long as is necessary.

READ MORE

The spokesperson said that the IRA ceasefire had been called on the basis of a "clear and unambiguous understanding" that all party talks would commence rapidly and added that the only solution to the conflict was through negotiations between "all those with a democratic mandate".

The ceasefire had ended because the peace process had become "a sham whose sole purpose had become the attainment of an IRA surrender"

"Put plainly and bluntly, the end of the cessation was brought about by John Major's cynical misuse and betrayal of the historic opportunity offered by the Irish Peace Initiative.

"The IRA delivered a complete cessation of military operations on a clear, unambiguous and shared understanding that inclusive negotiations would rapidly commence to bring about political agreement and a peace settlement.

"The British government committed itself to this publicly. So too did the Dublin Government."

Mr Major had reneged on these public commitments and had acted in bad faith throughout the ceasefire. He had introduced one new precondition after the other and squandered the opportunity for peace in order to keep himself in power.

The IRA had therefore concluded "that the surrender or political defeat of Irish Republicans was the actual agenda for the tactical engagement by the British government in the Irish peace initiative".

The British government had not been consulted in advance of the ceasefire. "It was the nationalist parties who persuaded us that the potential existed, within the nationalist consensus, for a viable alternative dynamic for change."

Since then the British government had shown, by its failure to put in place inclusive negotiations, an absence of will to make peace.

Asked about the deaths of two men in the Canary Wharf bomb, the spokesperson said the first warnings about the bomb were given 91 minutes before it exploded.

"The British forces must explain why, after a full 91 minutes, they had allowed civilians to remain in proximity to a massive bomb which they had not only been warned about, but which they had actually located."