Anti-British Group Says It Killed a Retired Policeman in N. Ireland

An anti-British gang opposed to Northern Ireland’s peace talks claimed responsibility Saturday for the shooting death of a retired policeman. It made no attempt to justify the killing.

In a statement to the BBC in this city, the outlawed Irish National Liberation Army said it had killed Cyril Stewart, 52, who retired last year after suffering a heart attack.

The INLA gave no explanation for Friday’s shooting outside a supermarket in Armagh, 40 miles southwest of here. Critics said it was the latest effort by extremists to cause peace talks to unravel.

The talks among eight parties resume Monday. They face an April 9 deadline to reach a settlement acceptable to the north’s pro-British Protestant majority, which wants strong government within Northern Ireland, and to a substantial Catholic minority determined to build ties with the rest of Ireland.

The British and Irish prime ministers, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, discussed the prospects for reaching a compromise in a 20-minute telephone conversation. Later, Blair’s spokesman said the British leader would meet with several Northern Ireland party leaders in London.

The INLA, a maverick critic of the larger Irish Republican Army that shares its aim of ending British rule, opposes the IRA’s current truce on the grounds that the talks are unlikely to sever Northern Ireland’s links with Britain.