Sinn Fein leader blasts British `fixation' on IRA weaponry

SHAWN POGATCHNIK / AP 10mar01

DUBLIN, Ireland  -- Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams accused the British government Saturday of having ``a fixation about IRA weapons'' that could unravel much of Northern Ireland's 3-year-old peace accord.

Speaking to Dublin delegates of his Irish Republican Army-linked party, Adams said the IRA wasn't to blame for the deadlock in efforts to bolster the Good Friday accord.

But he emphasized that the IRA would not scrap its hidden arsenal -- as the 1998 Good Friday pact said should happen -- in response to pressure from Britain or the Ulster Unionists, Northern Ireland's major Protestant party.

``The flaw in the handling of the peace process by the British government is contained in its fixation about IRA weapons, even though these weapons are silent,'' Adams said in reference to the outlawed group's 1997 cease-fire.

``The political process could still fall if this issue is not handled properly,'' he added.

His remarks followed Thursday's announcement by the IRA that its negotiator intends to meet again soon with an independent disarmament commission. That step has been sought by Britain and the Ulster Unionists ever since the IRA abandoned face-to-face talks in February 2000, just weeks after they'd begun.

Following 13 hours of negotiations Thursday involving the British and Irish governments, Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists, Britain indicated it was willing to give ground on Sinn Fein demands -- particularly on further troop withdrawals and base closures -- but only if the IRA finally began disarming.

Adams, reputedly once a senior Belfast IRA commander, dismissed this as a back-to-front approach and insisted Britain needed to keep scaling down its military presence regardless of IRA actions.

``There is no place in Ireland for the British army,'' Adams declared to applause from the 200-member crowd of Dublin party activists.

Sinn Fein insists its message is that the IRA might voluntarily disarm someday, but won't be seen to bow to pressure. Many of the IRA's Protestant critics say the IRA never intends to disarm.

At stake is the survival of Northern Ireland's joint Catholic-Protestant government, the centerpiece of the 1998 pact. The four-party coalition involving the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein could be mothballed by Britain, as happened last year, if the IRA disarmament argument isn't defused soon.

The government's senior figure, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, persuaded his Protestant supporters to share power with Sinn Fein in expectation that IRA disarmament would quickly follow. The IRA's refusal has spurred Trimble to slap restrictions on the two Sinn Fein members of his 12-member government, but Protestant hostility to his leadership remains strong.

The IRA, meanwhile, fears that any disarmament moves could provoke deeper splits within its shadowy ranks.

A dissident group called the Real IRA has bombed several military bases and civilian rail lines in Northern Ireland in the past year, and is believed to be responsible for last weekend's car bomb outside British Broadcasting Corp. studios in London. The dissidents accuse Adams' Sinn Fein of betraying their past sacrifices.

On Saturday, angered by these accusations, Sinn Fein adorned its conference room with pictures of IRA prisoners who starved themselves to death in Northern Ireland's main prison in 1981. That event served as Sinn Fein's launching pad into the world of politics and compromise.

``I acknowledge and commend the discipline of IRA volunteers. But I know that these are all difficult matters for republicans,'' Adams said, referring specifically to the IRA's intention to resume disarmament negotiations.

``I know that many will have been shocked and confused when they hear of this latest move, and I appeal for the utmost unity and commitment.''