McGuinness says arms not the issue

Sinn Fein will be part of a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland before the IRA hands over any weapons, the party's chief…

Sinn Fein will be part of a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland before the IRA hands over any weapons, the party's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness MP, said last night on BBC television's Newsnight programme.

All sides, including the two governments, had agreed to that with the Belfast Agreement. "If we are to be denied our position on an executive committee, then, in my opinion, it is the Ulster Unionist Party breaking their word," he said.

Mr Ken Maginnis, an Ulster Unionist MP, claimed, "There is no one who knows more about guns and bombs than Martin McGuinness". He asked, "Is Martin McGuinness going there for coffee and chocolate biscuits, or is he actually going there to talk about disarmament? If he is, can he give us some idea when in fact the first guns are going to be handed in?"

Mr McGuinness said he did not have responsibility to deal with IRA weapons. "Once we get to grips with the causes of conflict and hopefully this agreement can bring us in that direction, then it makes it much easier to take British and Irish guns out of Irish politics," he said.