The IRA has made progress in recent talks with the British and Irish Governments but needs to go further, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy claimed today.
Following Mr Tony Blair's call to the IRA be clearer about its future, Mr Murphy also urged the paramilitary group to provide more clarity.
He said: "I am not saying that the IRA has not moved forward in recent months. They have, but it is not enough. We believe the political parties, including Sinn Féin, want this process to work but we all have to go that extra distance".
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, posed three questions to the IRA in Downing Street yesterday that he claimed needed clear answers if efforts to restore power sharing in the North were to succeed.
He asked: "When the IRA say that their strategies and disciplines will not be inconsistent with the Good Friday Agreement, does that mean an end to all activities inconsistent with the Good Friday Agreement including targeting, procurement of weapons, so-called punishment beatings and so forth?
"Secondly, when they say that they are committed to putting arms beyond use through the decommissioning commission, does that mean all arms so that the process is complete?"And thirdly, when they say that they support the Good Friday Agreement and want it to work, does that mean that if the two governments and the other parties fulfil their obligations under the Good Friday Agreement and the joint declaration, does that mean the complete and final closure of the conflict?"
Mr Blair and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, have withheld the release of a blueprint by both governments for the full implementation of the Agreement until they know the IRA's future plans.
Sinn Féin has reacted angrily to the Prime Minister's three questions, insisting that a statement passed to the Government by the IRA was clear and unambiguous and the organisation's final position.
Mr Murphy insisted today that there was "no need for anger. "What we are saying is that we have not got sufficient clarity. The IRA has not moved far enough and so the picture is incomplete. "The Prime Minister's questions are pretty clear".The Northern Ireland Secretary said the questions did not apply solely to the IRA and would also have to be answered by Loyalists.
PA