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British
Press Cynically Welcomes IRA Apology For Civilian Deaths
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| A
man walks past the headquarters of An Phoblacht,
the Irish Republican newspaper in Dublin, Ireland
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BELFAST,
July 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Irish Republican Army
(IRA) on Tuesday, July 16, issued an unprecedented apology for the
deaths of hundreds of civilians it killed during Northern Ireland’s
past 30 years of sectarian violence. On Wednesday, July 17, the
British press welcomed the apology, though some were cynical over its
timing.
It
is the first time the leadership of the predominantly Catholic
paramilitary group has offered a straight apology for any of its acts,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
organization also acknowledged the “grief and pain” of the
families of “combatants” killed, referring to police, soldiers and
Protestant paramilitaries.
The
IRA’s move is highly symbolic, coming at a time when it faces
accusations from Protestants and from the British government that it
is not committed to the Northern Ireland peace process, AFP said.
Its
statement, given a guarded welcome by the British government in
London, came in a statement issued days ahead of the 30th anniversary
of a series of car bombs that killed nine and injured many more in the
center of Belfast, one of the group’s worst acts, known as Bloody
Friday.
“It
is... appropriate on the anniversary of this tragic event, that we
address all of the deaths and injuries of non-combatants caused by us.
We offer our sincere apologies and condolences to their families,”
the IRA said.
It
added: “While it was not our intention to injure or kill
non-combatants, the reality is that on this and on a number of other
occasions, that was the consequence of our actions.
“The
process of conflict resolution requires the equal acknowledgement of
the grief and loss of others. On this anniversary, we are endeavoring
to fulfill this responsibility to those we have hurt.”
The
IRA’s statement said it “remains totally committed to the peace
process. This includes the acceptance of past mistakes and of the hurt
and pain we have caused to others.”
Records
show the IRA killed nearly 1,800 people during three decades of
violence, close on 650 of them civilians.
In
London, the reaction from government sources to the IRA move was one
of guarded approval, while stressing the need for the 1998 Good Friday
peace deal to be implemented in full. This includes a commitment to
exclusively peaceful politics, AFP reported.
John
Reid, the British minister responsible for Northern Ireland, said:
“The best realistic expression of regret that can be made is to make
[people] feel confident that there will never again be the kind of
action and activities which inflicted [such] pain over the course of
30 years.”
British
opposition Conservative spokesman on Northern Ireland Quentin Davies
welcomed the IRA apology but said it was “not enough” to make up
for the loss of life.
The
IRA’s statement came as the British parliament prepared for a debate
on the state of the Northern Ireland peace process as it faces another
potential crisis.
The
province’s Protestant leader, David Trimble, has demanded that
Britain take action against Sinn Fein, which is the political wing of
the IRA and which is also part of the power sharing government in
Belfast.
Many
Protestants claim the paramilitary group has not really renounced
violence -- despite its historic gesture last October, when it
announced that it had begun disarming.
Jeffrey
Donaldson, a senior Northern Ireland politician and a hard-line
Protestant, branded the IRA statement a “half-hearted apology”
which “doesn’t go far enough.”
The
IRA declared a ceasefire in August 1994. This was broken by a bombing
in early 1996, but restored in July 1997.
Northern
Ireland’s overwhelmingly Catholic republicans want the province
united with the Irish Republic, while the mostly Protestant unionists
want it to remain a part of Britain.
Meanwhile,
Britain’s press on Wednesday welcomed the Irish Republican Army's
unprecedented apology, though some were cynical over its timing.
“Sorry?
So you bloody should be,” read the front page of the Daily Mirror.
The
Sun called the IRA’s move “a welcome apology” and used its
editorial to urge “all sides” involved in Northern Ireland's peace
process to “move forward in similar spirit.”
“Mistakes
and outrages were committed by both sides. Is it not time to draw a
line and end the troubles?” it asked.
This
opinion shared by British daily newspaper, the Guardian, which said
that the IRA had taken “a step in the right direction ... making
things better not worse.”
The
Telegraph called it “a small, welcome step towards acknowledging
that it (the IRA) inflicted the lion's share of casualties during
Northern Ireland’s Troubles.”
But
it said it was a “worthless apology” and that it “accidentally
points up more clearly than ever the obscenity of the IRA’s moral
distinction between the security forces and its other victims.”
The
Times said the apology made “tactical sense even if received with
derision by those to whom it is addressed.”
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