The chief constable of Northern Ireland Friday blamed the UK's biggest-ever bank robbery on the Irish republican paramilitary group the Provisional IRA, sending the already tortuous Northern Ireland peace process into a tailspin.
Hugh Orde said the US$50 million theft from Northern Bank in Belfast last month, in which the families of two bank workers were held hostage, was in his opinion the work of the IRA.
"This was a violent and brutal crime. It was not a Robin Hood effort," he said.
In Northern Ireland, banks print notes of their own design. As Northern Bank announced it would withdraw its notes from circulation and replace them with ones in different colors, in effect making the money useless, Orde said it was "the biggest theft of waste paper in the living history of Northern Ireland."
But although the bulk further US$7.5 million in other notes. No one has been arrested for the raid, on Dec. 20, and Orde said 45 detectives were working on the case.
Yesterday it seemed any hope of an imminent power-sharing agreement between unionists and Sinn Fein had been scuppered, with virtually no chance of restoring devolved government with the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Fein before the UK general election, or in the next six months.
Tony Blair will come under increased pressure to exclude Sinn Fein from any devolved government when he meets the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, next week.
Paisley said he had been "vindicated" in not taking the IRA "on trust alone" when negotiations for a power-sharing arrangement collapsed in December.
He asked why Sinn Fein continued to deny the involvement of the republican movement in the robbery -- the chief constable's revelations proved that "at the climax of the negotiations, Sinn Fein/IRA were involved in the planning of the crime of the century."
He asked: "Why did Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness allow the IRA to engage in the biggest bank robbery in British history? Their words no longer have any currency."
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness said Orde had failed to produce a scrap of evidence for "nothing more than politically biased allegations." He said that within days of the robbery, following media speculation and police briefings suggesting IRA involvement, he had asked the IRA about the robbery.
"I was assured they were not involved," he said. "We are witnessing a renewed attempt to undermine the peace process. We need to think long and hard about who is setting the agenda and why."
London said political institutions could only be restored with a "complete end" to all paramilitary activity.
The Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, said: "It is of concern to me more than anything that an operation of this magnitude was obviously being planned at a stage when I was in negotiations with those that would know the leadership of the Provisional movement."
Paul Murphy, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, said the revelations were "deeply damaging" for the peace process and caused "enormous difficulties." But he added: "I do not think it is the end of the process. We have gone too far down the line for that."
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS