BBC uesday, 14 August, 2001, 07:48 GMT 08:48 UK IRA 'withdraws' weapons plan IRA had given a new plan to arms commission

The IRA has withdrawn its proposed scheme for putting arms beyond use in a major setback for the Northern Ireland peace process.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the IRA blamed the Ulster Unionist party and the British government for its decision to withdraw the offer.

An IRA statement had been expected since last Friday when the Northern Ireland Secretary briefly suspended Northern Ireland's political institutions.

Republicans regarded that temporary suspension as another example of the British government giving in to unionist pressure.

On 8 August, the IRA had agreed a scheme with the international decommissioning commission for putting arms beyond use. That proposal which republicans regarded as 'historic' has now been withdrawn.

The IRA statement says "the Ulster Unionist Party leadership's outright rejection" of a report by the head of the commission, Canadian General John de Chastelain was "totally unacceptable".

The general had confirmed that a method of putting arms beyond use had been agreed by the IRA.

But his analysis that the IRA had entered into a decommissioning process was rejected by the Ulster Unionist Party and DUP because no timescale was agreed.

It is unclear what the IRA now intends in terms of its contact with the decommissioning body.

'Stuttering excuse'

The statement did not say whether its representative to the commission would continue discussions with General de Chastelain. It said only that the IRA would "monitor developments".

It is another setback to the efforts to resolve the arms issue by the British and Irish Governments and Northern Ireland's pro-Agreement parties.

Ulster Unionist security spokesman Lord Maginnis of Drumglass said he was not surprised by the IRA statement, which he called another "stuttering excuse for not fulfilling their commitments".

He said there was "nothing new in the implied threat that organisation may pull out of its obligations".

"It has been for this reason that Ulster Unionists, while creating opportunity for a transition from dependency on violence to democracy, has worked resolutely to ensure that the decommissioning argument is fully understood both nationally and internationally."

Deputy leader of the anti-Agreement DUP, Peter Robinson, said the government must now withdraw any concessions it had offered in policing and demilitarisation.

"The only purpose of the IRA's activity is to extract concessions from the government. That is why they made a tactical cessation of violence," he said.

"They have no intention of completing verifiable decommissioning."

The IRA move comes as the Northern Ireland political process continues to hang in the balance following the brief suspension of the assembly at the weekend.

The move, which followed the failure of the main pro-Agreement parties to accept in full proposals from the British and Irish Governments aimed at breaking the deadlock, was sharply criticised by Sinn Fein.

The 24-hour suspension was to give the parties a further six weeks to resolve the outstanding issues in the Agreement including disarmament, policing, demilitarisation and the stability of the institutions.

The current political crisis in Northern Ireland was precipitated by the resignation of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble as Northern Ireland first minister on 1 July because the IRA had not begun to disarm.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001