The British Government has indicated that Sinn Féin will not be expelled from the planned review of the stalled peace accord even if it decides the IRA has broken its two-year-old ceasefire. Instead, The Northern Secretary, Dr. Mo Mowlam hinted this evening that any breach might be penalised by suspension of early releases of IRA members. A spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland Office explained that the consequence of any verdict that the ceasefire had been breached would involve the prisoner release programme. The spokeswoman added that there was no automatic process for excluding Sinn Féin from the review of the peace accord by US Senator George Mitchell next month. The NIO's comments followed demands from the SDLP that Dr. Mowlam should publicly clarify the situation.
The Ulster Democratic Party, which has links to the UDA, has said that the onus remains firmly on the IRA to begin decommissioning weapons before the Loyalist paramilitary group considers making any move. The party's spokesman, David Adams, was speaking after the UVF and the Red Hand Commandos said that it was up to Republicans to create the conditions for a start to decommissioning.
In the statement, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commandos said that they saw decommissioning as an honourable objective, but they claimed that at present, the right conditions did not exist for them to sanction it. The SDLP Assembly member, Mark Durkan, described the statement as positive, but qualified. The Ulster Unionists said that it was now up to the IRA to respond.
