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Sinn Fein leaders deny reported IRA links
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Copyright ) 1997 Nando.net
Copyright ) 1997 Reuters
BELFAST (December 5, 1997 08:29 a.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Top
Sinn Fein official Martin McGuinness has denied a claim that he and his
party leader Gerry Adams are senior commanders of the IRA guerrilla
group. The allegation was made in a BBC television program broadcast in
British-ruled Northern Ireland on Thursday.
Quoting "authoritative republican and security sources," the Spotlight
program said that Adams and McGuinness were on the so-called army
council of the Irish Republican Army.
"Neither Gerry Adams nor myself are members of the IRA army council.
Neither Gerry Adams nor myself are members of the IRA," McGuinness told
the program.
Adams, who is Sinn Fein's president, and McGuinness, the party's chief
negotiators at all-party peace talks on Northern Ireland, are due to
meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his Downing Street residence
in London next week.
Ken Maginnis, a spokesman for the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party,
which strongly supports British rule, said Blair should call off the
meeting. He said it was the latest in a string of concessions to those
who want to break the province's British links in favor of an
all-Ireland state.
"They are being paid ransom in weekly tranches. The visit to Downing
Street is part of it," Maginnis told the BBC. "I would be surprised if
the prime minister reneged now, but he should."
Ronnie Flanagan, Northern Ireland's police commander, told the BBC
program he believed Sinn Fein and the IRA were "inextricably linked."
"I think that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are important leaders in
Sinn Fein, obviously, and therefore they are important to the overall
strategy of the Republican movement (consisting of the IRA and Sinn
Fein)."
The "Spotlight" program said the seven-strong army council was dominated
by four senior Sinn Fein members, including Adams and McGuinness.
Sinn Fein is a legal political group.
The program was investigating recent reports of dissent in the IRA and
Sinn Fein, following the resignations of several members of each
organization.
Recent media reports said that the IRA "quartermaster general" and
others had stormed out in protest against the guerrilla group's peace
policy in Northern Ireland.
By Martin Cowley, Reuters
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