Northern Irish deal slipping over IRA weapons impasse

BELFAST/DUBLIN - Anglo-Irish attempts to seal a lasting political settlement in Northern Ireland were halted on Tuesday by a row over whether IRA guerrillas should allow pictures to be taken of their arms being destroyed.

Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish Republican Army's political ally Sinn Fein, said the group was willing to give up the rest of its weapons but would not submit to the "humiliation" of having disarmament photographed, as its opponents demand.

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern said IRA leaders were meeting an independent body overseeing the "decommissioning" of weapons, but admitted a major stumbling block remained which could derail progress in the short term.

He said it would be clear soon whether a deal to restore a power-sharing government in Belfast was possible.

"Yes, there has been a meeting with the IRA representative and John de Chastelain. Those meetings, as I understand them, are ongoing," Ahern told the Irish parliament.

"There is one major difficulty and I don't see resolution to that, quite frankly."

The IRA draws its support from Northern Ireland's Catholic minority and waged an armed campaign for decades against the province's union with Britain.

It has carried out three partial acts of disarmament since 2001 in strict secrecy, witnessed by retired Canadian General John de Chastelain, head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.

But Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) representing pro-union majority Protestants, has demanded photographic evidence of the destruction of weapons as a condition of a deal. Such would be the symbolism for the IRA, which sees itself as an undefeated fighting force, that final agreement to resolve the impasse is far from guaranteed.

"I recognise that some (Protestant) unionists do have concerns about verification of arms being put beyond use," Adams, told a news conference in Belfast.

"But Ian Paisley has to recognise also that the IRA will not submit to a process of humiliation."

But he said Sinn Fein was prepared to accept a new deal to revive the 1998 Good Friday agreement between Northern Ireland's Protestant and Catholic foes. Adams said he had also met IRA chiefs but refused to elaborate.

The British and Irish prime ministers have a blueprint for agreement and plan to go to Belfast on Wednesday to make it public.

"We will publish the proposals tomorrow, no matter what the outcome," Tony Blair's spokesman said.

"The important thing is that people will be able to judge how much progress has been made in the past year and also, if the gap remains, how narrow that gap is."

If the IRA refuses to agree to photography, the 78-year-old preacher Paisley has said he will not commit himself to a deal.

The DUP said Sinn Fein's stance over IRA arms showed it was not prepared to sign up to an all-encompassing deal.

"We have always been told that the comprehensive agreement is not an a la carte menu," the party said in a brief statement. "It is not realistic for Sinn Fein to expect to choose a starter and a pudding and leave out the main course."

Thirty years of political and sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland claimed more than 3600 lives.

The IRA has been observing a ceasefire since 1997 and the 1998 Good Friday accord largely ended violence.

But its arrangement for Protestant-Catholic power-sharing in a Northern Ireland Assembly collapsed in 2002 amid allegations the IRA had been using Sinn Fein's foothold in government as a cover for spying operations.

- REUTERS