IRA offers weapons move

Decommissioning is a key issue in the peace process

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has proposed a plan for putting its weapons "beyond use," a body overseeing disarmament in Northern Ireland has said.

General John de Chastelain, who is in charge of the body, said on Monday that a method for putting arms "completely and verifiably beyond use" had been proposed by the IRA.

The move -- hailed as highly significant by the British and Irish governments -- came hours before a deadline was due to expire for Catholic and Protestant political leaders to respond to an Anglo-Irish plan to keep alive the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

One of the key stumbling blocks on the agreement being fully implemented has been the question of weapons decommissioning by paramilitary groups.

Former Northern Ireland first minister David Trimble -- leader of the Protestant Ulster Unionists (UUP) -- resigned over lack of progress on IRA decommissioning -- prompting the British and Irish governments to come up with the new peace blueprint.

The UUP is meeting on Monday evening to discuss its response to those proposals.

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Before the meeting Trimble said: "We're glad to see that the IRA has taken a significant step towards decommissioning but it hasn't actually begun decommissioning. And of course we want to see that happen."

Failure to reach agreement this week could lead to the suspension of the power-sharing Northern Ireland assembly and a possible return to direct rule from London or new elections.

The Good Friday pact had set an initial goal of total paramilitary disarmament by mid-2000, which was extended by the British and Irish governments to June 2001 after failure to meet the schedule.

The de Chastelain commission had been set up in 1997 to oversee the disarmament proposal, but has been largely reduced to checking that stockpiles of ammunition have not been moved or used.

The International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) said in Monday's statement: "Based on our discussions with the IRA representative we believe that this proposal initiates a process that will put IRA arms completely and verifiably beyond use."

No further details on the proposal, put forward in a recent meeting, are available but it would meet the commission's remit, it said.

The British and Irish governments welcomed the statement.

John Reid, Britain's secretary of state for Northern Ireland, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying: "The agreement between the commission and the IRA is important, and I believe a very significant step forward.

"I believe it provides the basis and the potential for rapidly resolving the arms issue."

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told RTE radio the move was "very significant and an historic statement."

Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid met with Sinn Fein members Saturday

He believed it was "clearly" enough to move the stalled peace process forward to deal with other issues such as policing, demilitarisation and the stability of the institutions.

He called on the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party, which is holding a meeting on Monday evening, to "reflect very carefully" on the de Chastelain statement.

"I think they should see the enormous move of this statement and the significance of it."

The republican political party Sinn Fein said the IRA had responded to Ulster Unionist demands on disarmament and the protestant party should "move speedily towards the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement."

Sinn Fein's President Gerry Adams told the UK's Press Association: "The two governments, the UUP and other parties should grasp the new opportunity that this unprecedented statement from the IICD creates."

He added: "Once again, the IRA has demonstrated its commitment to the search for a lasting peace.

"The other parties need to match that commitment and should respond positively and constructively."

But Jeffrey Donaldson, a senior Ulster Unionist who is sceptical about the Good Friday pact, said more details would be needed, AP reported.

"We will want to know that any proposals on (weapons) decommissioning fully comply with the legislation, in that the weapons must be rendered permanently usable and unavailable."

It is not clear what the method of decommissioning is, or its timing.

He said the IRA appeared to be offering "a very long wait."

Peter Robinson, deputy leader of the Protestant Democratic Unionists, told AP: "This (The IRA plan) is just a further delaying tactic to gain further concessions."

The British and Irish governments had tried to resolve the dispute caused by Trimble's resignation with six days of talks with key players in a country house in Staffordshire, England.

After failing to come to a settlement, the governments produced a plan last week which included looking at reforms of the Northern Ireland police service, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, a reduction in the number of troops in the area and the decommissioning of terrorists weapons.

The parties were to respond to the plan by Monday evening, and early indications were that the parties were heading for deadlock, both calling for more time.

London and Dublin have until August 12 to secure an agreement if the Belfast power-sharing administration is to be saved in its present form.