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Fresh talks planned on IRA disarmament

DUBLIN: Talks are planned on Friday between the head of Northern Ireland's independent disarmament commission and representatives of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Examiner newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Retired Canadian army general John de Chastelain was likely to meet IRA representatives in the town of Dundalk, on the Irish side of the border with British-ruled Northern Ireland, the mainstream national daily said.

Guerrilla disarmament is one of the most critical steps in cementing Northern Ireland's peace process.

The IRA is expected to ask de Chastelain to allow its members to retain arms for personal protection amid fears of attack by hardline republican splinter groups, the report said.

The IRA would be asked to deposit weapons and detonators in a special hide to be sealed by a member of the decommissioning body and fitted with an electronic device to be activated if accessed.

A quantity of Semtex is also expected to be detonated in an isolated field to be witnessed by members of the disarmament body.

Northern Ireland's pro-British Ulster Unionist Party has said that a Belfast power-sharing executive with Sinn Fein, the IRA's political ally, will collapse unless the IRA disarms.-Reuters