N. Ireland Paramilitary Group Disarms

Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force Destroys Entire Arsenal; Another Group Begins Surrendering Weapons

(AP)  Northern Ireland's oldest paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force, announced its full disarmament Saturday - a long-sought peacemaking move that, if confirmed, would formally end the pro-British group's decades of terror against Irish Catholics.

And the other major Protestant paramilitary group, the Ulster Defense Association, announced it also has begun to surrender weapons to independent disarmament officials.

Northern Ireland's disarmament chief, retired Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain, has declined to confirm reports this month that both the UVF and UDA had handed over guns, ammunition and explosives in a secret ceremony.

But in Saturday's statement to Belfast media, the Ulster Volunteer Force said its commanders gathered together the underground group's entire arsenal and destroyed it in the presence of de Chastelain and independent observers from both sides of the Northern Ireland community June 12.

The UVF said it had "completed the process of rendering ordnance totally and irreversibly beyond use." It declined to provide specifics of the type or volume of weaponry surrendered.

Minutes later, the Ulster Defense Association announced it also has begun to disarm in cooperation with de Chastelain, who since 1997 has led efforts to disarm all of Northern Ireland's myriad paramilitary forces. From 2001 to 2005, he oversaw the total disarmament of the Irish Republican Army, the major outlawed group on the Catholic side of the community.

The UDA said its representatives recently delivered an unspecified quantity of weapons to de Chastelain. It pledged to hand over more of its illegal arsenal soon.

"This is a courageous and unprecedented move that is part of a wider transition from conflict to peace. ... By carrying out this act we are helping to build a new and better Northern Ireland where conflict is a thing of the past," said the UDA's commanders in their statement.

In Dublin, Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he expected to receive a report soon from de Chastelain confirming both disarmament moves. He praised the 12-year efforts of the Canadian and his deputies, Andy Sens of the United States and Brigadier Tauno Nieminen of Finland.

"While more remains to be done, they have made progress on a scale many people believed was not possible. The people of this island will be forever in their debt," Ahern said.

For more than a decade, both the UDA and UVF had resisted pressure from the British, Irish and American governments to disarm. However, their failure to move caused fewer problems for Northern Ireland's wider peace process because - in stark contrast to the IRA and its popular Sinn Fein political party - the Protestant gangs marshaled little political support and merited no role in the territory's power-sharing government.

Analysts agree that the UDA and UVF are finally disarming now, in part, because Britain was about to withdraw a long-standing deal that permits outlawed groups to hand over weapons without the threat of arrest and imprisonment. Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward had warned that UDA and UVF members caught with weapons after August would face criminal prosecution.

The UVF began killing Catholic civilians in 1966 in a self-declared "war" against the IRA's host community. They were joined five years later by the UDA, an umbrella group for Protestant gangs. Together they killed about 1,000 people, mostly Catholic civilians, before declaring a joint cease-fire in 1994. Both groups in recent years turned increasingly to criminal racketeering marked by deadly feuds within their own ranks.

During the bloodiest years of Northern Ireland's "troubles," the UDA and UVF sought to match the IRA killing for killing. Much more crudely armed than the IRA, the anti-Catholic extremists often plotted mass slaughters by machine-gunning or bombing Catholic social venues. But reflecting their poorer supplies and engineering skills, UDA and UVF guns frequently jammed and their bombs often failed to detonate properly.

Nonetheless, the UVF is responsible for the deadliest act of the entire Northern Ireland conflict: the detonation of four no-warning car bombs in the Irish Republic on May 17, 1974, that killed 33 people.

[mcintoshlou]

The GOP, to be certain, will never get to a point where it willfully cedes the moral high ground to Democrats. The social and religious conservatives who comprise a large and vocal portion of the base won't permit such a drift. Nor, for that matter, does it make political sense. The failings of Sanford and others, they argue, were isolated and personal events and not reflective of the party as a whole.

"It is a personal tragedy that he talked about some length," said Frank Donatelli, chairman of GOPAC, a conservative political action committee, and former political director for President Ronald Reagan. "But I don't know that it has implications beyond that."

That said, conservatives have hit a rough patch in the last few years on the family values front, with Sen. John Ensign, Sen. David Vitter, and former Sen. Larry Craig all setting the stage for Sanford's own marital misconduct controversy. And there is a growing belief among strategists that Republicans might -- at least for the time being -- be better served to stress the economic components of their platform rather the social or moral aspects.

"Look, of course, we are the conservative party and we are going to have a conservative message," said Donatelli. "But I do think by talking a little bit more about economic opportunity that we as a party want to offer both at the national and state level, that is what we can do I think to broaden our ranks."

Craig Shirley, a long-time Republican strategist who has been vocal in his criticism of the party, added: "The problem with the Republican Party today is not having principles; the problem is the betrayal of principles. Frankly, I think the whole issue of 'family values' is overstated as a problem in the GOP. The Republican Party has a lot of problems, no doubt, but for every John Ensign or Mark Sanford are ten so-called conservatives undermining the Jeffersonian message of individual rights, individual dignity."

how can we expect to deal with these probems when our republi'con' politicians have no respect overseas?

[John_Merritt]

All NRA Members:

If Ireland is used as an example of an organization or society ridding itself of weapons to orchestrate peace, don't fall for that line. Trust me the Irish are still holding onto their weaponry, as we should as well.

Great Job IRA and all those who want to have peace now and for your children. Truly commendable and definitely a long time coming. Well done.

[gw185]

Great day for Northern Ireland, more arms decommissioned. Wookiee-1138, a terrorist group is a terrorist group, be it the IRA, RIRA, UVF, UDA. In relation to the RIRA, remember the Omagh bombing? They mislead the police on the real location of the bomb,and as a result 29 people were killed.

[barbaram99]

I am happy for Iraland. Now if America can rid herself of the street gangs etc. Glad to hear of Iraland doing the right thing. Irish is cool.

[Wookiee-1138]

Everyone portrays the RIRA as the villains despite the fact that they always gave warnings before bombings and the Brits often ignored the warnings to gain sympathy from the bloodshed.

[mcintoshlou]

On Thursday, Sanford agreed to reimburse the state for part of a more-than $8,000 tab that enabled him to see his mistress on an official economic development trip to Argentina's capital city. At a Cabinet meeting Friday, he told the head of the state Commerce Department he was sorry about the trip.

The department had initially included only Brazil on the official itinerary but added meetings in Buenos Aires at the governor's behest, said Kara Borie, a spokeswoman for the state Commerce Department.

Sanford did conduct business in Buenos Aires, although Borie said there were no specific economic development projects that have come from them.

[ToolMangler1]

This comment is a trifle misplaced, don'tCha think?

[presjfk]

its about time!

[Chris_Butler]

Now if we can get Southern Irish Politicians and American Corporations to stop committing crimes against humanity in stealing from Social Welfare Recipients to hide there economic mistakes then Ireland could have rule of law.

It would be a marvellous day in history.

[IrishWench01]

It is a good day in Ireland.

[ToolMangler1]

I agree 100%
Erin Go Bragh