Q&A: IRA's arms offer retraction

A man walks past an IRA mural in East Belfast

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- CNN correspondent Nic Robertson looks at the possible consequences of the Irish Republican Army's statement that it will withdrawn its offer to put its weapons "beyond use."

Q. Why did the IRA make its statement?

A. The IRA believed the offer it put forward last week to completely and verifiably put weapons beyond use was an unprecedented development which it said was welcomed by the international body overseeing paramilitary weapons disarmament. That their offer was rejected by Protestant, Unionist politicians was the main reason they cited for withdrawing the offer on Tuesday. They also said the Brit government had failed to fulfil its commitments, and that was unacceptable.

Q. What does it mean for the Northern Ireland peace process?

A. Protestant politicians say they have seen moves like this from IRA before, and say this is just posturing in advance of the next six weeks of talks. The IRA's political wing Sinn Fein says despite the IRA's withdrawal of its offer on arms decommissioning, it remains ready to talk with all parties and says it has made significant commitments. The next round of talks will be critical as that is the period the British government has allowed for the current impasse in the peace process to be resolved.

AUDIO Sinn Fein's Mitchell McLaughlin: "We will bring the peace process back on track." 1.47MB / 139 secs WAV sound   EXTRA INFORMATION Text of IRA statement     MORE STORIES IRA retracts arms offer   Move condemned by unionists      QUICKVOTE Was the IRA right to withdraw its offer on arms decommissioning? Yes No View Results

Q. What effect will this have on the Northern Ireland Assembly?

A. The unionists have said they won't continue in the power-sharing government until the issue of IRA weapons is resolved to their satisfaction. If there is failure in the next six weeks, the British government will most likely call for a new round of elections for Northern Ireland's power-sharing government. Analysts fear the outcome of those election could mirror results in the recent general elections which showed a significant swing to the more extreme parties on both sides of the political divide.

Q. What did the IRA mean when it originally offered to put its weapons "beyond use?"

A. "Beyond use" means exactly that. It means the IRA could never use those weapons again. Protestant politicians would like to see the guns physically destroyed. Proposals varying from cementing over the arms dumps to tainting the weapons with chemicals have been put forward in the past.

Q. What is in the arms dumps?

A. Although weapons inspectors have been shown a couple of the IRA's weapons dumps, the paramilitary group is known to have others in both the north and south of Ireland. Some dumps are on farms while other smaller ones are under city houses. British intelligence operatives know of some of these arms dumps, however the vast majority are known only to the IRA.

Judging from weapons retrieved from dumps and from analysis made from weaponry shipped in during the IRA's paramilitary campaigns, British officials believe the dumps contain weapons ranging from small handguns to heavy machine guns to rocket launchers through to an unknown quantity of the high explosive Semtex. The IRA has developed its own mortars known as barrack-busters and components of those devices are also believed to be hidden in dumps.

Q. What effect will Monday's arrests of three suspected IRA members in Colombia have on the peace process?

A. The arrests will heighten fears in the Protestant community that the IRA is still involved in illegal and paramilitary activities. Some Protestant politicans go as far as to say the IRA were themselves in Colombia developing new weapons. Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing have said very little about the three men detained in Colombia suspected of paramilitary activities. The fact that British officials have been able to establish the three were once members of the IRA however will certainly make the next round of talks tougher for Sinn Fein. And given the activities of the Colombian guerrilla group, the FARC, who the Colombian authorities allege the IRA were training, SF could lose international support, particularly from the United States which supports the Colombian government.