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03/07/2002
Tory leader opposes amnesty plans
Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has urged the Prime Minister Tony Blair to abandon plans to grant an amnesty to Northern Ireland paramilitaries who are still on the run.
In a letter to Mr Blair, the Opposition Leader said concessions to groups, which had not fulfilled their obligations under the Good Friday Agreement, were generating "a sense of injustice and betrayal".
The move comes ahead of crisis talks on the peace process at Hillsborough in County Down tomorrow.
Mr Duncan Smith also wants government plans to drop charges against fugitive paramilitaries to be abandoned.
He wrote: "I believe that making new concessions to parties who have not fulfilled their existing obligations reduces the incentive to comply.
"Furthermore, such concessions generate a sense of injustice, betrayal and cynicism throughout the community in Northern Ireland."
He also asked whether Mr Blair believed, like his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern, the IRA should now disband and all illegally-held weapons should be decommissioned by May 2003 - five years after the agreement.
Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat shadow Secretary for NI said: “The proposed amnesty goes well beyond plans for early release outlined in the Good Friday Agreement. Those who are accused of paramilitary crimes must appear before the courts so that their guilt or innocence can be determined.
“People in NI have so far been prepared to make concessions in order to further the peace process, but if the government decides to push ahead with its proposals then the whole Agreement could be put at risk.
“Consideration must be also be given to those who have had to flee the province because of intimidation from paramilitaries. It would be wrong for those who are suspected of crimes to be allowed to return home, while those who have been exiled are not afforded the same rights.”
(AMcE)
In a letter to Mr Blair, the Opposition Leader said concessions to groups, which had not fulfilled their obligations under the Good Friday Agreement, were generating "a sense of injustice and betrayal".
The move comes ahead of crisis talks on the peace process at Hillsborough in County Down tomorrow.
Mr Duncan Smith also wants government plans to drop charges against fugitive paramilitaries to be abandoned.
He wrote: "I believe that making new concessions to parties who have not fulfilled their existing obligations reduces the incentive to comply.
"Furthermore, such concessions generate a sense of injustice, betrayal and cynicism throughout the community in Northern Ireland."
He also asked whether Mr Blair believed, like his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern, the IRA should now disband and all illegally-held weapons should be decommissioned by May 2003 - five years after the agreement.
Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat shadow Secretary for NI said: “The proposed amnesty goes well beyond plans for early release outlined in the Good Friday Agreement. Those who are accused of paramilitary crimes must appear before the courts so that their guilt or innocence can be determined.
“People in NI have so far been prepared to make concessions in order to further the peace process, but if the government decides to push ahead with its proposals then the whole Agreement could be put at risk.
“Consideration must be also be given to those who have had to flee the province because of intimidation from paramilitaries. It would be wrong for those who are suspected of crimes to be allowed to return home, while those who have been exiled are not afforded the same rights.”
(AMcE)
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