IRA Slams British Demands

Sounding defiant at a critical moment for Northern Ireland's peace process, the Irish Republican Army warned Saturday that it would not start to disarm in response to Protestant or British government demands.

The statement was issued as Catholic and Protestant government leaders met outside Belfast, CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth reports. Britain says it will re-impose London's direct rule on Northern Ireland unless the paramilitary group commits within a week to giving up weapons.

As part of the province's 1998 Good Friday peace accord, Britain transferred some governmental control to a local power-sharing administration eight weeks ago. The major Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, has vowed to resign from the province's Cabinet, forcing its collapse, unless powers are withdrawn in protest at the IRA's refusal.

While the IRA said it won't be pushed by threats, it conceded the arms issue does need to be resolved. The leader of the pro-British unionists said that's not enough. "It is a bit of a disappointment to see they have nothing new to say and that there is no new proposal contained within it, and I think that is most unfortunate," David Trimble responded Saturday.

But the politicians are still talking -- a positive sign, says Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party. "I think it was a useful exchange of views," he said. "We have agreed that we will meet again as things proceed."

The IRA said Saturday it's still behind the peace process, but it didn't say when it might start giving up weapons to prove it. The group also sternly disputed others' expectations that its members should have begun identifying its hidden arms dumps by now.

"The IRA has never entered into any agreement, undertaking or understanding at any time with any one on any aspect of decommissioning. We have not broken our commitment or betrayed anyone," it said.

"Those who have once again made the political process conditional on the decommissioning of silent IRA arms are responsible for creating the current difficulties and keeping the political process in a state of perpetual crisis," the group said, concluding: "The peace process is under no threat from the IRA."

In the meantime, even Irish nationalist supporters have stepped up with warnings that patience is growing thin.

The Good Friday accord anticipated that the IRA would completely disarm in cooperation with an independent international commission by this May. But the commission's first detailed report -- presented Monday to the British and Irish governments following two months of contacts with IRA leaders -- said no concrete progress had been achieved.

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