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IRA meets arms commission


The Omagh victims' relatives are seeking support to fund a civil case against the bombers

DUBLIN, Ireland -- An Irish Republican Army (IRA) representative has held fresh face-to-face talks with Northern Ireland's disarmament commission.

After announcing last week that the IRA would re-enter discussions, the republicans confirmed a meeting had taken place on Wednesday "to set out the basis for discussions."

Its statement said: "The IRA has honoured its commitments and will continue to do so."

A spokesman for the international decommissioning body confirmed that a meeting had taken place.

"The commission welcomes this re-engagement which we consider to be in good faith," said a spokesman.

The move follows a surprise olive branch offered by the paramilitary group last week when it cleared the way for fresh talks with the body after relations were suspended.

There had been no contact between the Provisionals and the independent decommissioning body set up by General John de Chastelain since June last year.

The UK government and Ulster Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly say IRA disarmament is one of key issues hampering progress in the implementation of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

The province's peace deal has been on the brink of disarray for nearly a year because of the IRA's refusal to disarm.

Unionists have threatened to pull out of the power-sharing assembly -- in which the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein has two ministers -- if the IRA does not decommission its arms.

It was the IRA's refusal to meet with de Chastelain, which led to Stormont First Minister David Trimble banning Sinn Fein ministers Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun from attending cross-border ministerial meetings.

A senior Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) source called on the decommission body to produce a full report on the meeting with the IRA next week.

"We hope very much that substantial progress on decommissioning has been made as was promised by Republicans some time ago."

The source told the Press Association that the ban on McGuinness and de Brun would remain in place for the foreseeable future.

"The question of the UUP lifting the ban on Sinn Fein will not be considered until the appropriate level of progress has been made on decommissioning.

"The clear expectation is there will have to be a report very soon as to what progress has been made."

Meanwhile, the families of those killed in Northern Ireland's Omagh bombing in 1998 have launched a fund-raising campaign to bring a civil action against those behind the attack.

A massive car bomb planted by the Real IRA, a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army guerrillas, killed 29 people. One of the victims was a woman pregnant with twins.

Police believe they know the identities of those who carried out the worst single atrocity of the Northern Irish troubles, but do not have sufficient evidence to satisfy the high standards of proof of a criminal court.

The victims' families are appealing for �2 million ($2.9 million) to bring a civil case. They need at least �1 million ($1.5 million) by August in order to issue writs before the expiry of a three-year deadline for the lodging of a civil litigation claim.

Reuters contributed to this report.