Irish Republican News and Information, 30 October 2002,
http://irlnet.com/rmlist/
Flash:
IRA suspends contact with arms decommissioning body
The following is an IRA leadership statement [to be published in
this week's An Phoblacht newspaper] in the wake of the speech by
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the suspension of the
political institutions by the British government
Recent events show that the leadership of unionism have set their
faces against political change at this time.
There is also a real threat to the peace process from the British
establishment and its agencies as well as the loyalist murder
gangs.
For our part, the IRA remains committed to the search for a just
and lasting peace.
The complete cessation of military operations announced in July
1997 remains intact.
In the past the IRA leadership has acted unilaterally to save and
enhance the peace process. We have also outlined how, in our
view, the full implementation by the two governments of their
commitments could provide a political context with the potential
to remove the causes of conflict.
Despite this, the British Government says that the responsibility
for this present crisis and its resolution lies with us and there
is an effort to impose unacceptable and untenable ultimatums on
the IRA. At the same time the British Government, by its own
admission, has not kept its commitments.
The IRA, therefore, has suspended contact with the IICD
[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning].
The onus is on the British Government and others to create
confidence in this process. They can do this by honouring their
obligations.
P O'Neill,
Irish Republican Publicity Bureau,
Dublin.