IRA decommissioning will not be achieved by unionist ultimatums or on British terms, a senior IRA source said tonight. As pressure continues to mount on republicans to act on weapons before Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble resigns as Northern Ireland First Minister on July 1st if decommissioning has not started the senior republican made it clear they would not be forced into action.
He said: "We restate our belief that the issue of arms can be resolved but it will not be resolved by unionist ultimatums or on British terms."But he insisted the IRA posed "no threat" to the peace process.The IRA had honoured every commitment it had made, he said, but accused the British government of failing to honour its pledges."On two major points in this agreement, policing and demilitarisation, the British government has reneged."Those who want to contradict this are being dishonest. They are too intelligent to delude themselves and are only misleading themselves and the public."The Taoiseach Mr Ahern and the Northern secretary Dr Reid tonight welcomed the IRA statement.Speaking during Mr Ahern's visit to the Carfin Grotto, where he is unveiling a memorial to victims of the Irish Potato Famine, Mr Ahern stressed the need for all parties to work together to ensure the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.He said: "I want to take the opportunity to welcome the statement from the IRA."It is most welcome for the peace process and I note the fact that it mentions two of the four outstanding issues. The view of both governments is that all the pro-Agreement parties must address these issues and resolve these issues together."Both John and I are ready, along with our colleagues, but we cannot do it on our own, and in the next nine to 10 days we will be working towards that end."What everybody has said from different perspectives is we want full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, but full implementation is only possible by dealing with all the outstanding issues."Dr Reid said: "I welcome the reaffirmation from the IRA that they are behind us."From the point of view of the British government, we will meet our responsibility and press forward, but it takes all of us and I hope the IRA and Sinn Féin will equally be prepared to reassure everyone of that commitment."Either we all move forward together on this or we all fall back."Mr Trimble hit back at the IRA tonight accusing republicans of "not living in the real world".He insisted: "It is dishonest to represent decommissioning as just a Unionist demand. It is the requirement of the Agreement backed by the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland and in the Republic."Mr Trimble added: "The Republican movement itself promised last May to put its weapons beyond use.""The agreed deadline set for full implementation of the Agreement by the Governments was June 2001. The reality is that it is the Republican movement that is putting the institutions at risk".A nationalist SDLP minister in the Stormont executive tonight described the IRA statement as "fairly predictable", but said the terror group still had to move on the issue of disarmament.Northern finance minister Mr Mark Durkan said: "The statement does not add anything new nor does it particularly build on prior commitments or undertakings that the IRA have given."The IRA made a statement last March in respect of their engagement with General de Chastelain and steps they would take to deal with the arms issue to ensure maximum public confidence."They have had time to follow through what they presented as their initiative on their terms."Short of belated indications of re-engagement with General de Chastelain and the useful arms inspections that have taken place, there has been no further development of that initiative.
PA