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08/03/2006
IMC assesses IRA as 'no terrorist threat'
A report by the IMC on the security normalisation programme has said that the Provisional IRA has taken a strategic decision to follow a political path and does not represent a terrorist threat.
The report concluded: "We believe that PIRA has taken a strategic decision to follow a political path. It does not in our view present a terrorist threat and we do not believe it is a threat to members of the security forces. The leadership has given instructions that the membership of PIRA should not engage in public disorder. Any illegal activity which may be engaged in by the organisation or its members is mainly of a kind to be addressed by the police without need for military assistance."
However dissident republican groups pose a "continuing threat" to the security forces and the public. They were training members and acquiring equipment to that end.
The report said: "Their capacity for sustained campaigns is limited but they are prepared to resort to extreme violence. The threat they pose is higher in some places, of which South Armagh is the most obvious but not the only example. They are heavily engaged in organised crime."
Regarding loyalist paramilitaries the report said they were also "heavily involved in organised and other crime, including drugs," and were capable of "extreme violence."
The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Peter Hain, welcomed the latest assessment by the IMC that the Provisional IRA is no longer a terrorist threat.
Commenting on the report Mr Hain said: “This is another positive report and reinforces the view that compared to where the IRA was there has been a sea change.”
The Secretary of State said that the Government is on target to meet its normalisation commitments announced last August.
He said: “I welcome the IMC’s confirmation that the Government has proceeded with normalisation as promised and that they believe this is consistent with Government’s obligations to the safety and security of the public.
“I am confident that the remaining commitments in the first tranche of normalisation will be delivered in the next two months and that the IMC will be able to confirm this in their next report on security normalisation.”
Mr Hain stressed that normalisation can only take place in a suitable environment: “If the security situation changes and there is not an enabling environment, I will not hesitate to ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to safeguard the public.”
(SP/GB)
The report concluded: "We believe that PIRA has taken a strategic decision to follow a political path. It does not in our view present a terrorist threat and we do not believe it is a threat to members of the security forces. The leadership has given instructions that the membership of PIRA should not engage in public disorder. Any illegal activity which may be engaged in by the organisation or its members is mainly of a kind to be addressed by the police without need for military assistance."
However dissident republican groups pose a "continuing threat" to the security forces and the public. They were training members and acquiring equipment to that end.
The report said: "Their capacity for sustained campaigns is limited but they are prepared to resort to extreme violence. The threat they pose is higher in some places, of which South Armagh is the most obvious but not the only example. They are heavily engaged in organised crime."
Regarding loyalist paramilitaries the report said they were also "heavily involved in organised and other crime, including drugs," and were capable of "extreme violence."
The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Peter Hain, welcomed the latest assessment by the IMC that the Provisional IRA is no longer a terrorist threat.
Commenting on the report Mr Hain said: “This is another positive report and reinforces the view that compared to where the IRA was there has been a sea change.”
The Secretary of State said that the Government is on target to meet its normalisation commitments announced last August.
He said: “I welcome the IMC’s confirmation that the Government has proceeded with normalisation as promised and that they believe this is consistent with Government’s obligations to the safety and security of the public.
“I am confident that the remaining commitments in the first tranche of normalisation will be delivered in the next two months and that the IMC will be able to confirm this in their next report on security normalisation.”
Mr Hain stressed that normalisation can only take place in a suitable environment: “If the security situation changes and there is not an enabling environment, I will not hesitate to ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to safeguard the public.”
(SP/GB)
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