BRITISH FORCES HELPING TO STRENGTHEN UDA

Friday August 09, 2002 04:24

by McMean

Trimble's "serial crisis" blamed for violence British intelligence is involved in a plan to reorganise the loyalist paramilitary UDA under a single commander In a newspaper article reviewing the crisis in the peace process, Mr Adams also alleged that intelligence chiefs know which loyalist paramilitaries killed north Belfast teenager Gerard Lawlor last month.

And in an attack on Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble,
Mr Adams predicted Trimble would "breathe life" next month into a
"manufactured, serialised crisis" in the peace process, even if
it created a climate in which anti-Good Friday Agreement
paramilitaries could thrive.

The West Belfast MP said there was serious reservations among
republicans and nationalists about the willingness of unionists
to share power with nationalists.

"When he (Mr Trimble) failed by July to get out of the British
government what he wanted he put the crisis 'on hold' and went on
holidays," said Mr Adams.

"No doubt when he comes home in September he will breathe new
life into this manufactured serialised crisis.

"Against the background of a loyalist campaign involving hundreds
of pipe and petrol bomb and gun attacks, which have resulted in
people being killed and driven from their homes, David Trimble
must realise that his strategy, if successful, can only create
the political vacuum in which anti-agreement violence would
thrive."

In the article, Mr Adams alleges there are moves within the UDA
to put the organisation under the control of one 'supreme
commander'.

Said Adams: "The killing of young Gerard Lawlor can be traced to
the same group and Sinn Fein is calling upon the police service
to release forensic records of the weapons used in the series of
attacks against Catholics."

He further alleged that recent bomb and gun attacks on Catholic
homes in Ligoniel, north Belfast were designed to deflect UDA
energies away from a potential feud with the UVF.

"The Ulster Unionist Party must be aware of all these
developments. They are represented on the Loyalist Commission,
which includes the UDA, by one of Mr Trimble's close advisers.

"The British government is also very aware of this. It is a
matter of public record that the loyalist groups are heavily
infiltrated by British agents and I for one refuse to believe
that the Special Branch and other agencies were not aware in
advance of the loyalist gun attacks on the evening Gerard Lawlor
was killed.

"So this is a dangerous time. For our part Sinn Fein have tried
to give leadership particularly in arguing for collective
initiatives from the pro-Agreement parties to bring calm to the
streets and to confront sectarianism. This is obviously a task
for the executive. The first minister has failed to respond, as
he should to this situation. The reason is obvious.

"Having actively sought sanctions against Sinn Fein he can hardly
join with us and others even if he knows this is the right thing
to do. But Mr Trimble is obliged to represent all citizens. This
includes republicans.

"Many republicans believe with some justification that we have
taken huge risks and made compromises to strengthen the peace
process. There are now serious reservations among republicans and
nationalists about the willingness of unionists to share power
with us."

Mr Adams alleged David Trimble was set on a "pre-determined,
highly publicised course" to sustain a political crisis at
Stormont.

The West Belfast MP also accused the British government of
"pandering to the UUP" by moving unilaterally to provide Mr
Trimble "with comfort zones which either breach the Good Friday
Agreement or stretch it in that direction.

"What is required is that the British government faces up to the
reality that political and violent rejectionism is the real
threat to the political institutions and the entire process," he
said.

ADAMS REJECTS SDLP CLAIMS

Speaking this afternoon, Mr Adams rubished SDLP claims that he
was preparing his party to join the North's Policing Board.

He was responding to claims from the SDLP's Tom Kelly that Sinn
Fein were poised to join before the next Assembly elections,
which could take place as early as November.

Mr Adams said there was no prospect of this happening until the
British government introduced new legislation.

"The last time I spoke to the British government I said to them
don't even bother mentioning policing unless you are prepared to
bring forward the proposals," he said.

He was speaking during a visit to the troubled Ardoyne area of
north Belfast to speak to residents whose homes came under attack
during another night of violence.

Mr Kelly, a member of the SDLP who sits as one of the
independents on the board, accused Sinn Fein of "rank hypocrisy"
in refusing to join.

But Mr Adams said Britain was delaying changes to the legislation
because the SDLP had signed up prematurely to the Policing Board.