Mowlam to decide soon if IRA broke ceasefire

The decision on whether the IRA is in breach of its ceasefire may not be given until early next week, the Northern Secretary has indicated.

Dr Mo Mowlam said yesterday that she must engage in further consultations before being able to determine if the IRA was implicated in the recent murder in west Belfast of Mr Charles Bennett, and in the attempt to import arms from Florida.

Dr Mowlam has already heard advice from the RUC and British army chiefs but said she is seeking further information from the US and Irish authorities about the arms-smuggling allegations.

"I hope by the end of week or at the latest by the beginning of next week I will have reached a decision," she said.

Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, after meeting Dr Mowlam at Stormont yesterday, said he accepted the recent IRA statement in which it stated "that there have been no breaches of the IRA cessation".

The IRA ceasefire of 1994, broken two years later but re-established in 1997, was described by the organisation as a cessation of "military operations", and unionists have accused the IRA of trying to draw a distinction between attacking the RUC and British army and killing people from within its own community.

However, the North's security minister, Mr Adam Ingram, yesterday said the British government could not accept such a differentiation. He said if it were proved that the IRA killed Mr Bennett that would be judged as a breach of the ceasefire.

The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, has not detailed the advice he gave to Dr Mowlam. But an Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member, Mr Danny Kennedy, who met Sir Ronnie yesterday, said the RUC chief confirmed "republicans" were implicated in Mr Bennett's death. Mr Kennedy said Sir Ronnie did not specifically tell him the IRA murdered Mr Bennett. "He [the RUC Chief Constable] confirmed there was strong republican involvement that will call into question the IRA ceasefire."

Mr McGuinness warned of a "crisis" in the peace process. "I think clearly the agreement is unravelling. There has been a failure of politics and that has to be arrested," he said.

There would be no justification for any sanctions against Sinn Fein arising from Dr Mowlam's judgment on the state of the IRA cessation.

Asked if Sinn Fein would walk away from the process and September's review if Dr Mowlam imposed penalties against his party, Mr McGuinness said it would not be productive to engage in such speculation. "Sinn Fein's commitment to our peace strategy is absolute, and we have shown our commitment for the last eight or nine years," he said.

Dr Mowlam also met the SDLP, DUP, Alliance, the Women's Coalition, the Progressive Unionist Party, the Ulster Democratic Party and the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP) to discuss the current state of the political process. She is due to meet the Ulster Unionist Party today.

Mr Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, said while penalties might be imposed by Dr Mowlam against Sinn Fein over breaches of the IRA ceasefire he suspected such action would be minimal. The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, would not be drawn on the IRA ceasefire, but his Assembly colleague, Mr Sean Farren, said while his party was opposed to recent acts of violence it was not in favour of the expulsion of any party from the political process. A similar point was made by the Women's Coalition.

Mr David Ervine of the PUP said the focus should be on politics rather than the IRA ceasefire.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, is expected to travel to the North on Monday to discuss the current state of the peace process with Dr Mowlam. It is understood the Minister is likely to have a series of meetings on Tuesday with representatives from the main Northern parties including the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Sinn Fein.

Mr Andrews is due to travel to East Timor on Wednesday where he will act as EU monitor of the autonomy/independence referendum to be held there later this month.