Ceasefire watchdogs meet amid 'IRA kidnapping' storm
A four-member commission set up to monitor paramilitary ceasefires in Northern Ireland was meeting in Dublin today amid allegations of Provisional IRA activity.
The Independent Monitoring Commission, set up last year by the British and Irish governments to also examine the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, has been criticised by Sinn Féin in recent months for being set up outside the terms of the 1998 accord.
The commission, which comprises former Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Lord Alderdice, ex-anti-terrorist squad chief John Grieve, retired Irish civil servant Joe Brosnan and former CIA deputy director Richard Kerr, was expected to meet just five days after an attempted abduction of a republican by a gang in Belfast city centre.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, blamed the IRA for the incident, sparking unionist demands for Sinn Féin to be expelled from the review of the Good Friday Agreement currently taking place at Stormont.
Mr Orde and other security advisers briefed Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy on the incident and the state of the IRA ceasefire.
Four men appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday in connection with the incident.
They were charged with unlawfully imprisoning Bobby Tohill, assaulting him and having items likely to be of use to terrorists.
Irish IRA membership charges were, however, dropped.
Ulster unionist leader David Trimble led calls yesterday for Sinn Féin’s expulsion from the review talks at Stormont aimed at restoring Northern Ireland’s devolved Assembly.
Democratic Unionists Deputy Leader Peter Robinson said parties could also impose their own sanctions against Sinn Féin by boycotting meetings with republicans during the review, like his party.
British and Irish government sources indicated last night that there was no sanction arrangement for punishing any party linked to paramilitaries if an alleged ceasefire breach had occurred.
Nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan also pointed the finger of blame for Friday night’s event at the IRA and accused Sinn Féin of evasion.
The Foyle MLA said the Independent Monitoring Commission must be allowed to do its job of assessing the state of the IRA’s ceasefire and other ceasefires.
Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said his party would not be put out of the review.
The Mid-Ulster MP insisted the party was essential to the peace process and would not be turned in to “a whipping boy” for others.
| Related Stories: |
|
