>From: "james-tait" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>SINN FEIN NEWS
>
>> IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
>> http://irlnet.com/rmlist/
>>
>> Monday/Tuesday, 22/23 May, 2000
>>
>>
>> 1. WARNING OVER CONCESSIONS AS UNIONIST DEBATE RAGES
>> * Sinn Fein rejects Policing Bill
>> 2. 'Brits' exposes shoot-to-kill
>> 3. Taxi driver attacked by loyalists
>> 4. Murdered Belfast child remembered
>> 5. Journalists pursued in censorship clampdown
>> 6. Garda-RUC boxing team protest
>> 7. New Zealand calls for Nelson inquiry
>> 8. CRJ: Community response to crime
>> 9. Analysis: Welcoming the New Irish
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> >>>>>> WARNING OVER CONCESSIONS AS UNIONIST DEBATE RAGES
>>
>>
>> With tension mounting ahead of a Saturday's critical decision by
>> unionists, the breakthrough Hillsborough deal on the
>> implementation of the Good Friday Agreement appears increasingly
>> in danger of being destroyed by side-deals between the British
>> government and the Ulster Unionists.
>>
>> Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader John Taylor has said his key
>> support for a return of the North's power-sharing Executive
>> depended on the British government making further concessions
>> this week.
>>
>> Party leader David Trimble is to put the issue of a return of the
>> North's power-sharing Executive to the vote at a meeting of his
>> party's 860-strong policy-making council on Saturday. The vote
>> could finally decide whether the Good Friday Agreement, and
>> Trimble himself, survive.
>>
>> His inscrutable deputy, John Taylor, who is believed to have an
>> eye on the UUP leadership himself, said his key support for a
>> return of the North's power-sharing Executive depended on the
>> British government making further concessions this week.
>>
>> "On Thursday last I made it clear I was not satisfied with the
>> package that was on the table, and I'll be voting against it," he
>> said. "That will be my position on Saturday unless things
>> seriously improve."
>>
>> An IRA offer two weeks ago to put its weapons beyond use in
>> secured, monitored dumps won international acclaim as a historic
>> move to finally break the long-standing deadlock over
>> decommissioning. But it appears to have been virtually ignored by
>> unionists, who are still seeking assurance that the IRA has been
>> defeated.
>>
>> After five days of additional negotiations, Mr Trimble then
>> backed his party's return to a power-sharing executive alongside
>> ministers from Sinn Fein, but postponed the critical vote by the
>> Unlster Unionist Council until this Saturday.
>>
>> A vote in favour will see the return of the Executive, the
>> Belfast Assembly and and the all-Ireland institutions which were
>> collapsed on Feburary 11 by the British government after David
>> Trimble threatened to withdraw his party.
>>
>> Now Trimble is seeking a return to Stormont, and for the first
>> time is saying he believes that the IRA's armed struggle against
>> British rule is over, and that the IRA lost the war.
>>
>> Aging loyalist leader Ian Paisley rejected this vehemently,
>> ironically accusing Trimble of "dancing to the Provos' tune".
>> Urging the Ulster Unionist Council to reject Mr Trimble's
>> proposals, Paisley added: "Trimble's claims that the IRA campaign
>> is finally over indicate that he is now not just a Provo salesman
>> but a Provo spokesman as well."
>>
>> Roughly one third of the membership of the Ulster Unionist
>> Council are outright opposed to the Hillsborough deal on arms,
>> many insisting the IRA should physically surrender their weapons.
>> The hardliners have so far been rewarded with a stream of
>> concessions and so-called 'letters of comfort' from the British
>> government, providing assurances to unionists on a number of key
>> issues, but infuriating nationalists.
>>
>> Much of the back-room bargaining has centred on symbolism -- the
>> flying of the British flag and the name and badge of the new
>> police service. But a central element of the 1998 Good Friday
>> Agreement, the Patten report on policing reform, was quietly
>> eviscerated by British civil servants last week. The legislation
>> to implement the Patten reforms is now just a faint image of the
>> plan drawn up by the policing commission to create a
>> cross-community policing service.
>>
>> Among the key components of the Patten proposals to be removed
>> under the new Policing Bill include the replacement of the new
>> oath of allegiance for existing RUC members with an unwritten
>> 'code of ethics'; the reduction of the period of recruitment of
>> new police officers on a 50:50 cross-community basis to just 36
>> months instead of 10 years; the removal of most of the
>> supervisory powers of the Police Ombudsman and the Policing
>> Board. Other key issues, such as a decision on the name of the
>> new force, were simply delayed until next year.
>>
>> SF REJECTS BILL
>>
>> Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams told a Belfast rally on Sunday
>> that he could not urge people to join the new policing service
>> because of the extent of the British government's departure from
>> the recommendations made by the Patten Commission.
>>
>> Speaking at a rally in Twinbrook, commemorating schoolgirl
>> plastic bullet victim Carol Ann Kelly's death 19 years ago, Mr
>> Adams said last week's Bill was a departure from the
>> recommendations made by the Patten Commission.
>>
>> "I have to say that the recently published Police Bill does not
>> advance the objective of a new policing service," he told
>> supporters.
>>
>> "There is no way, at this time, that I, or Sinn Fein, could
>> recommend to nationalists or republicans that they should
>> consider joining or supporting a police force as described in
>> that legislation...
>>
>> "For republicans to even consider a six-county policing service
>> is a huge step which would require a huge shift in our approach.
>> Many republicans and nationalists are extremely uncomfortable
>> with this concept," he warned.
>>
>> He said: "There is no way that I, or Sinn Fein, could recommend
>> to nationalists or republicans that they should consider joining
>> or supporting a police force as described in that legislation".
>>
>> Republican anger over the British government's handling of the
>> IRA's latest initiative has reached unprecedented levels. The
>> intensity of the backlash among supporters was something even Mr
>> Adams said he had never experienced before.
>>
>> "Most of the anger and frustration and downright annoyance has
>> not been created by the unionists," he said today. "It's been
>> created by the British government."
>>
>> Meanwhile, Chris Patten, the head of the policing commission and
>> the former governor of Hong Kong, repeated his warning against
>> linking policing reform to the political process. Speaking on
>> BBC radio, he said: "If you are going to get a police service
>> which young Catholics as well as young Protestants, and young
>> people with no particular religious affiliation, are going to
>> join, then it can't be identified with the central political
>> argument in Northern Ireland. And it is as simple as that," said
>> Mr Patten.
>>
>> But John Taylor is pushing for even more. He is insisting that,
>> unless there is even more movement from the British government on
>> policing, he will vote with those opposed to the Good Friday
>> Agreement on Saturday.
>>
>> "I am not interested in what republicans are offering so much as
>> what our own government is offering between now and next
>> Saturday. If there is no change I will be voting against," he
>> said.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> >>>>>> 'Brits' exposes shoot-to-kill
>>
>>
>> According to TV journalist Peter Taylor, whose series 'The Brits'
>> is being screened on BBC, the British government was aware that
>> military intelliegence officers had killed a young nationalist
>> who could have been arrested, and that a cover-up had been
>> mounted.
>>
>> Tomorrow night's programme covers the shoot-to-kill murders,
>> including six shootings in County Armagh in 1982 by a so-called
>> "elite anti-terrorist police unit".
>>
>> According to the programme, a report to the government revealed
>> how MI5 officers destroyed a tape recording of 17-year-old
>> Michael Tighe being shot dead without any warning in a hay shed
>> outside Lurgan in 1982.
>>
>> Although Tighe's killing and the others were later investigated
>> by former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester John
>> Stalker, his report was also suppressed.
>>
>> SICK CELEBRATIONS
>>
>> Undercover Army units in the North of Ireland celebrated the
>> killing of IRA Volunteers with cakes carrying the name of their
>> victims, it was also revealed.
>>
>> According to TV journalist Peter Taylor, whose series 'The Brits'
>> is being screened on BBC 2, members of the 14th Military
>> Intelligence Company had cakes baked in the shape of a cross with
>> the names of IRA members shot in undercover operations.
>>
>> Mr Taylor today released a photograph of one such cake bearing
>> the name of William Price from Co Tyrone.
>>
>> The 28-year-old IRA member was shot dead in an ambush by the SAS
>> early on July 13 1984 in Ardboe, County Tyrone.
>>
>> In tomorrow night's second episode of Mr Taylor's programme, a
>> member of the 14th Intelligence Company called 'Anna' explained
>> how they celebrated.
>>
>> "We went to the bar, we drank quite a lot. The cooks made us a
>> cake.
>>
>> "If a terrorist was killed there was a cake made with their name
>> on it, part of the celebration. Some of the cakes were in the
>> form of a cross with RIP on it."
>>
>> Mr Taylor today revealed that he had met members of William
>> Price's family last night to inform them of the photograph and of
>> the revelation in this week's programme.
>>
>> "They were philosophical and sad," he said.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> >>>>>> Taxi driver attacked by loyalists
>>
>>
>> A Catholic taxi driver was lucky to escape with his life after
>> being viciously assaulted while dropping a passenger off in a
>> loyalist district in north Belfast.
>>
>> His boss, Orchard Taxis owner John Donnelly, said the firm had
>> now ceased all operations in the area because of the incident.
>>
>> Mr Donnelly is also appealing to community leaders to have more
>> influence in preventing such attacks again on "men just out
>> earning a living".
>>
>> The assault happened as the driver was leaving a customer to his
>> home around 1am on Friday. The victim said he was still shaken up
>> by what could have happened.
>>
>> "I had just dropped off a customer when I saw a man about 50
>> yards away staggering as if he was drunk," he said.
>>
>> "My window was wound down and I heard him shout 'do you have a
>> cigarette mate'. Then he was running towards the taxi. Three
>> other men had came out from the side of a house and started to
>> surround me," the driver added.
>>
>> "I put my foot on the accelerator to get out of there fast when a
>> breeze block smashed through the passenger window and two beer
>> bottles followed it.
>>
>> "Luckily I managed to escape, I drove to the nearest police
>> station where I got out of the car and just collapsed," he said.
>>
>> The driver was then admitted to the Mater Hospital where it was
>> discovered he had sustained a fractured elbow. He is now on leave
>> recovering from his ordeal.
>>
>> "I could have been a dead man. My family could have been burying
>> me today.
>>
>> "If they had got to the car a bit sooner, the breeze block and
>> bottles could have been used for another purpose - to kill me,"
>> he said.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> >>>>>> Tyrone man receives bullet threat
>>
>> A County Tyrone man who received a bullet in the post last week
>> is accusing the RUC of waging a dirty tricks campaign against
>> him.
>>
>> Garry Mitchel, from Stewartstown, who has been threatened by the
>> RUC and hoods in the past year, believes that the bullet which
>> was posted to his house in a matchbox is connected to these
>> threats.
>>
>> Last year, Mitchel was arrested by the RUC and accused of burning
>> a car after residents of the Tyrone village staged protests at
>> the homes of drugs dealers. The charges were, however, withdrawn
>> due to lack of evidence.
>>
>> Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy raised a number of questions and asked
>> how the package, which was incorrectly addressed, was able to get
>> through the post undetected.
>>
>> "Mr Mitchel is a community worker and fears that the RUC have
>> targeted him by wrongly arresting him last year," said Molloy.
>> "This latest threat has left him on edge and worried about his
>> safety."
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> >>>>>> Journalists pursued in censorship clampdown
>>
>>
>> Within days of a critical UN report which accused the British
>> government of censorship, another journalist writing about
>> Britain's covert war in Ireland is to be arrested. Liam Clarke,
>> the Sunday Times' Six-County editor, has been told by London
>> Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Alan Learner to present
>> himself for interview.
>>
>> In a letter, Learner "strongly advised" the journalist to seek
>> legal advice before responding. Clarke is to be arrested under
>> the Official Secrets Act in relation to a series of articles
>> carried by the Sunday Times based on interviews by a former
>> member of the British military intelligence, the covert Force
>> Research Unit.
>>
>> Using the pseudonym, Martin Ingram, the former FRU operative said
>> that the covert group had colluded with loyalist death squads and
>> had deliberately destroyed evidence of that collusion. Ingram has
>> said that a British Army unit, trained in covert breaking and
>> entering, set fire to offices used by the Steven's Inquiry team.
>>
>> Recently, a number of former FRU members have been arrested and
>> questioned by the London Metropolitan Special Branch in what
>> appears to be a desperate effort to end Ingram's career as a
>> whistle blower by tracking him down.
>>
>> A former FRU officer, who was arrested at Christmas in the belief
>> that he was Ingram, is currently on bail. A house where the
>> former British soldier stays outside Britain was recently broken
>> into and a number of items stolen, including a draft of a
>> manuscript. The document later emerged in the hands of the
>> British government.
>>
>> The action against Liam Clarke appears to have been initiated by
>> the British Ministry of Defence, which is headed by Geoff Hoon, a
>> close associate of Tony Blair. The Labour Party vigorously
>> opposed the current Official Secrets Act when it was introduced
>> by the Tories in 1989.
>>
>> Commenting recently on a commitment by the British government to
>> a new ethos of openness, Hoon endorsed proposed freedom of
>> information legislation and described it as "radical". Despite
>> this, he appears to have been central to the recent rigorous
>> pursuit of journalists and their contacts in a concerted campaign
>> by the British administration to stop information about their
>> covert war in Ireland reaching the public domain.
>>
>> The pursuit of Clarke follows a number of actions against
>> journalists writing specifically about Ireland. In 1989, the home
>> of Tony Geraghty, a former Sunday Times journalist, was raided by
>> MoD police.
>>
>> For over seven hours, military personnel trawled through
>> Geraghty's files. The journalist's computer, disks and a modem
>> were confiscated during the raid. Charges under the Official
>> Secrets Act were later dropped.
>>
>> Last year, the author of a book about FRU agent Brian Nelson,
>> Nick Davies, was ordered to hand over his computer and disks.
>> Davies was confronted by a representative of the Treasury
>> solicitor and an MI5 officer and was handed a court order
>> authorising the seizure of his computer and files.
>>
>> The British authorities are already pursuing Observer journalist
>> Martin Bright for interviewing former MI5 agent David Shayler.
>> Bright has been ordered to hand over his notes to the Special
>> Branch and is facing contempt of court proceedings if he refuses.
>>
>> Others to have recently fallen foul of the British government's
>> new ethos include author Jack Holland in relation to a book about
>> an RUC intelligence officer; Ed Moloney of the Sunday Tribune in
>> connection with an interview with William Stobie, a former RUC
>> Special Branch agent implicated in the murder of defence lawyer
>> Pat Finucane.
>>
>> "The Committee" a documentary about crown force collusion and in
>> particular Brian Nelson, screened by Channel Four in 1991 and
>> forerunner of McPhilemy's book of the same name, was also the
>> subject of legal action.
>>
>> Television journalist and programme researcher Ben Hamilton was
>> arrested and Channel Four ordered to hand over documentation
>> revealing anonymous sources interviewed in the documentary. When
>> Channel Four refused, they were charged with contempt of court
>> and fined #75,000. Charges against Hamilton were later dropped.
>>
>> Tony Blair's apparent commitment to keeping the tracks of the
>> British Intelligence services well covered are all the more
>> bizarre given the latest revelations of their covert actions
>> against many Labour Party members including MPs and members of
>> the British Cabinet.
>>
>> Clare Short, international development secretary, Jack Straw,
>> British Home Secretary and Peter Mandleson, Six-County direct
>> Ruler, have all recently been named as having been spied upon by
>> British Intelligence services.
>>
>> In a recent submission to the UN, Professor David Miller of
>> Stirling Media Research Institute notes that there has been a
>> recent "increase in the resort to legal action to suppress
>> journalistic inquiries". The British state, Miller says, "shows
>> no willingness to acknowledge openly its own role in the 'dirty'
>> war in Northern Ireland.
>>
>> "Legislative developments do not suggest a lessening of attempts
>> by the state to control information about the activities of it's
>> agents," says Miller. On the contrary "the British government is
>
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