Haass: US would back IRA ceasefire monitor
The US Government will back any international body set up to monitor the IRA’s ceasefire as part of a deal to restore devolution in Northern Ireland, it was confirmed tonight.
With all sides in Belfast still to break the deadlock in the peace process, a verification commission has been suggested as a way of ruling on alleged paramilitary activity.
David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists want some way of keeping check on republicans’ commitment to peace before they will agree to return to power-sharing with Sinn Fein after the suspected IRA spy plot brought down the Stormont regime last October.
Any such body is expected to include representatives from the British, Irish and American administrations.
President George Bush’s special adviser on Northern Ireland, Richard Haass, tonight said the US was ready to become involved.
He told the BBC: “We have to see all the details when all this is finalised and get a better sense of exactly what kind of person it would be and how much time it would take.
“But yes, we have said all along we are prepared to do our part.
“We supported, for example, the verification body that dealt with arms decommissioning in the past; there’s an American on that, and we would be more than prepared to recommend that some American support this new body.”
The confirmation came as pressure mounted for the IRA to make the huge move on disarmament now needed to rescue the peace process.
