Irish: Sinn Fein leaders also command IRA

[struggle4progress]

SHAWN POGATCHNIK

Associated Press


DUBLIN, Ireland - In an unprecedented charge, the Irish government Sunday publicly identified three of Sinn Fein's top figures, including party president, Gerry Adams, as members of the Irish Republican Army command.

The government's increasingly confrontational stance indicates it no longer will tolerate the IRA-linked Sinn Fein's long-held claim that its leaders should not be held accountable for IRA actions. The shift is intended to force the illegal IRA to disarm fully and disband or risk the legal Sinn Fein's enforced marginalization in politics.

Seeking to maintain good working relations with Sinn Fein's two key figures, successive Irish and British governments had previously declined to identify either Adams or Martin McGuinness, the party's de-facto deputy leader, as members of the IRA's seven-member command, called the "army council."

But during a live debate on a national radio station, Justice Minister Michael McDowell identified Adams, McGuinness and Martin Ferris as IRA army council members. McDowell berated what he called their "deep, deep dishonesty." <snip>

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