Urgent efforts to revive the ailing political process were dealt a severe blow last night after the IRA pulled out of its participation with Gen. John de Chastelain's decommissioning body, and withdrew its proposals aimed at breaking the disarmament deadlock.
The hope of current talks, involving the British and Irish governments and the North's pro-Belfast Agreement parties, achieving the lifting of the suspension of the political institutions were centred on positive elements in the second report from Gen. de Chastelain issued on Friday night.
But the IRA statement appears to have put back any chance of that suspension being quickly revoked, as the Irish Government and several of the pro-agreement parties were seeking. The IRA accused the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, and the Ulster Unionist Party leadership of rejecting the propositions it put to the commission on decommissioning.
The IRA said a "deeper crisis" had been created by this move. It claimed the British government and the UUP "obviously have no desire to deal with the issue of arms except on their own terms".
The IRA added: "Those who seek a military victory in this way need to understand that this cannot and will not happen. Those who have made the political process conditional on the decommissioning of silenced IRA guns are responsible for the current crisis in the peace process.
"In the light of these changed circumstances the leadership of the IRA have decided to end our engagement with the IICD. We are also withdrawing all propositions put to the IICD by our representative since November."
It was hoped a resolution could be found through Gen. de Chastelain providing clarification of his second report. The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, did meet the general last night but by then the IRA had already issued its statement.
The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, said the IRA statement was "not good news", but he knew of no security threat from the IRA at present. "We have no intelligence to indicate that the Provisional IRA intend to re-engage in acts of violence contrary to their stated cessation of violence. So in that sense it has no immediate implication for the security situation," he told the BBC.
The negative IRA statement will concentrate minds in London today, where the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, are due to discuss the impasse.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, Mr Trimble, and the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, are also scheduled to meet the British and Irish leaders in London today.
It also came on a day when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and Mr Mandelson separately were continuing their busy round of meetings with parties in Belfast in an attempt to resolve the political crisis.
The IRA statement was issued about two hours after Mr Adams signalled that Sinn Fein might not participate in a review of the agreement.
Mr Adams, accompanied by senior Sinn Fein negotiators, Mr Martin McGuinness, Mr Pat Doherty and Ms Bairbre de Brun, met Mr Mandelson at Castle Buildings at 1.45 p.m. yesterday.
Mr Adams said of his encounter with Mr Mandelson, "It was a bad meeting." The only way forward was through the British government moving urgently to reinstate the institutions.
Asked about the proposed review of the agreement Mr Adams insisted: "We certainly have no notion of being part of any review, because there is no basis for a review . . ."
