BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Islamweb & News Agencies) - The Irish Republican Army announced Tuesday that it has begun to disarm for the first time, saying it wants to prevent the collapse of the fragile peace process after monthsThere was no immediate word on the number of weapons being put out of use or the method. The IRA was implementing a plan accepted by an international disarmament commission in August, the details of which were never made public.
The announcement came one day after Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and his deputy, Martin McGuinness, urged their allies in the IRA to make good on their long-delayed promises to put their weapons ``beyond use.'' (Read photo caption below)
``Our motivation is clear. This unprecedented move is to save the peace process and to persuade others of our genuine intentions,'' the IRA statement said.
``The political process is now on the point of collapse. Such a collapse would certainly, and eventually, put the overall peace process in jeopardy,'' it said.
The impasse over disarmament has threatened to bring down the Protestant-Catholic government created under Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace agreement of 1998.
Protestant politicians of the Ulster Unionist Party had resigned from the government, setting a Thursday deadline to find an agreement or again shut down the government.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams speaks to the press during a news conference in, west Belfast, Northern Ireland, October 22, 2001. Adams said that he and Martin McGuinness had held discussions with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and urged them to start disarming to rescue Northern Ireland's crumbling peace process. (Paul McErlane/Reuters)