The IRA needs to assure the community that the arms it opened for inspection in June remain secure, the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson has said. Mr Mandelson expressed the hope yesterday that the IRA would allow a second arms inspection soon, following the first inspection in June and its pledge to eventually "completely and verifiably" put its arms "beyond use".
He said in Portadown that the IRA had provided a commitment that there would be further examinations of arms dumps by the independent inspectors, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Mr Martti Ahtisaari. (In June the inspectors said they planned to re-inspect the dumps on a "regular basis".)
"That is important. People need to have confidence that the arms that have been opened up in those dumps remain safe and secure in the meantime, and are not being used for any illegal purposes," Mr Mandelson added.
Asked could he envisage a further inspection before Christmas, he said he hoped a re-inspection would "follow shortly", but when precisely it might happen was a matter for the inspectors to discuss with the IRA.
In response to calls from Sinn Fein for further demilitarisation, the Northern Secretary indicated there could be movement in this area. "I act at all times on the advice primarily of the [RUC] chief constable," he said. "If he is happy to see further normalisation measures take place - and I have no reason to believe he won't be happy - then I will be very happy to see them implemented."
The Ulster Unionist MP for East Derry, Mr William Ross, was scathing of Mr Mandelson's comments about the IRA arms dumps. "It almost made me weep with laughter to hear such words from a British Secretary of State.
"Having promised, cajoled, spun and threatened the unionist people into accepting the so-called Belfast Agreement, the British government's minister responsible for Northern Ireland is now admitting that he hopes that the IRA will let two outside observers inspect only three obsolete dumps on a regular basis.
"This is not by any stretch of the imagination credible and verifiable decommissioning."
Mr Gerry Kelly, the Sinn Fein MLA for North Belfast, meanwhile called on the British government to further scale down the army presence in order to help stabilise the political process.
He said that in some areas the government has "remilitarised". "The issue of demilitarisation is as central to the future of the peace process as is the question of future policing arrangements," added Mr Kelly.
"If the peace process is to succeed, if politics is to be seen to be working, then people in places like Fermanagh and Armagh must see viable change when they look outside their windows. At the minute all they see is the British army and the RUC."
