IRA opens arms dumps to inspectors

The Irish Republican Army has for the first time opened some of its secret arms dumps to international inspection and Britain.

The Irish Republican Army has for the first time opened some of its secret arms dumps to international inspection and Britain.

The breakthrough, announced jointly in London by two independent inspectors and in Dublin by the IRA, is being hailed as a major step towards a permanent peace in Northern Ireland.

Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said they had seen a "substantial amount" of weaponry the guerrilla organisation had used in its fight against British rule. They said they believed it could not be used again without their knowledge.

A clearly pleased British Prime Minister said he was "a lot more optimistic" about removing the gun from Irish politics now that Ahtisaari and Ramaphosa had seen IRA weapons.

"This represents a very substantial further step along the road to peace in Northern Ireland, " said Tony Blair after meeting the two inspectors in his Downing Street office.

But Blair's government stressed that getting a look at IRA guns was not a substitute for the long-term goal of "decommissioning" the weapons - either destroying them or in some other way putting them permanently beyond use.

"There is a further process that now has to be begun and that is putting the IRA arms, and indeed the arms of all paramilitary organisations, completely and verifiably beyond use." the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson said.

Mandelson also said the loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland needed to consider taking similar steps regarding their arsenals.

Ahtisaari and Ramaphosa said the IRA weapons had been safely stored and the IRA was cooperating with their inspections.

But British officials would not say where the dumps were, how many weapons had been seen, whether Blair even knew these details, or how Ahtisaari and Ramaphosa could be sure they had not been hoodwinked.

"Everyone recognises it's not the totality of IRA weaponry." a Blair spokesman said. He said the world had to accept the word of the two inspectors, people of "huge international standing".

Ahtisaari is a former Finnish president; Ramaphosa is the former secretary-general of the African National Congress.

The IRA said last month it would allow inspection of some of its dumps as a "confidence-building measure" to end a dispute over guerrilla disarmament that prompted Britain to temporarily suspend the province's home-rule government earlier this year.

The power-sharing administration of Protestant and Catholic politicians has since resumed work, but Protestants insisted the IRA must make good its offer or they would pull out.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said the opening of the arms dumps was a major step. "I think it augurs well for the future of the peace process." he said.

More than 3,600 people were killed in three decades of sectarian violence between Roman Catholics fighting for union with the Irish Republic and Protestants wanting continued British rule.