IRA Ready to Shed Arsenal, Officials Say
The Irish Republican Army is ready to dispose of its stockpiled weapons in a long-sought peace move, possibly within the next week, Sinn Fein and Irish government leaders said Friday after their first meeting in eight months.
On July 28, after years of diplomatic pressure from the British, Irish and U.S. governments, the IRA announced that it had renounced violence for political purposes and would disarm fully.
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, leaders of the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party, spent two hours discussing the still-secret IRA decisions with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and senior Cabinet ministers.
McGuinness is to travel Tuesday to Washington to seek U.S. political backing for whatever IRA actions are revealed. He said Sinn Fein left Ahern in no doubt that “we are on the threshold of something very, very important.”
“There is a bright and better future ahead for all of us, and we just hope that everyone will take advantage of what I am convinced is a tremendous opportunity,” McGuinness said.
Ahern did not comment. His foreign minister, Dermot Ahern, said the talks were “good and fruitful.”
“All the indications are that we will see [IRA weapons decommissioning] in the very near future,” the foreign minister said.
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