Hardline republicans tried to coax weapons from IRA

19/10/2005 - 12:59:26
Hardline republican terror groups tried to coax weapons from Provisional IRA members after the organisation announced an end to its armed campaign, it was claimed today.

The Independent Monitoring Commission revealed in its latest report on paramilitary activity: “Following the PIRA statement of July 28, and before decommissioning was announced on September 26, dissident republicans approached members of PIRA who they believed might be disgruntled as a result of that statement, hoping to obtain weapons from them, but there has been no evidence of any success.”

The commission also said the Continuity IRA and Real IRA had sought to recruit new members since the Provisionals’ statement.

However, the Real IRA, which carried out the 1998 Omagh bomb attack, had very limited success.

The report observed: “CIRA has remained intermittently active during the period under review.

“Elements of the organisation are recruiting and training new members; the recruitment is possibly an attempt to take advantage of the opportunities they perceived to be presented to them by the PIRA statement.

“Some existing CIRA members have received training. The organisation continues efforts to improve its capacities to use explosives and weapons, and to procure new weapons.”

The IMC said the Continuity IRA remained a dangerous organisation capable of mounting attacks and was involved in robberies.

In July it was responsible for hoaxes and bomb attacks and took part in disturbances during Orange Order celebrations on July 12, throwing blast and petrol bombs at the security forces.

While it remained dangerous, the commission concluded the Continuity IRA had not demonstrated recently it was capable of mounting a sustained campaign of violence.

The IMC said the Real IRA was seeking to improve its bomb making capability and remained violent, dangerous and determined.

It blamed the Real IRA for the savage beating last month of Northern Ireland Policing Board vice chairman Denis Bradley in a bar in Derry as he watched a football match on television with his son.

“We greatly deplore the violent RIRA attack in a public place on the deputy chair of the Policing Board,” the report said, accusing the organisation of other beatings.

The commission also stated: “RIRA, within which there are two factions, has sought to co-ordinate and reinforce itself since our fifth report in the Spring.

“Elements in RIRA are continuing to recruit and train new members, and existing members have received training.

“We believe that RIRA is trying to take advantage of the opportunities it thinks the PIRA statement offers to recruit, but with very limited success to date.”

The report said the organisation remained involved in organised crime, including smuggling fuel and tobacco.

The commission said the Real IRA also continued to target on and off-duty police officers and had used intimidation and violence against Protestant families as well as forcing one of its former members from his home.

The Irish National Liberation Army, the report said, was also recruiting and training members and was involved in attacks on the security forces during nationalist rioting over the July 12 Orange parades.

The organisation carried out so-called punishment attacks and considered at one stage attacking off-duty members of the security forces.

The IMC said: “Members of the INLA remain active in organised crime – for example, robberies, drugs and smuggling.

“The police seized substantial funds which we believe were raised by INLA from cigarette smuggling.

“INLA has also made efforts to ensure that it maintains its position in certain local communities.

“Overall, therefore, there has been some increase in INLA’s use of violence but the level of activity is not high. We believe that the threat of the organisation’s more active involvement remains.”

The report said there had also been a number of incidents between March 1 and August 31 which could not be attributed to specific groups but to dissident republicans generally.

These included plans in March to launch attacks in Britain, the planting of a device in a vehicle in Lisburn in April and the placing of a pipe bomb along the route of the Belfast Marathon in May which PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde was running in.